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3  1822  02468  7667 


Icui 


And  the  Rise  of  the  Christian 


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3  1822  02468  7667 


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ALCUIN 


lYO^b 


Edited  by  NICHOLAS  MUKBAY  BUTLER 


ALCUIN 

Unjv.  of  California 
Withdrawn 

AXD 


THE  EISE  OF  THE  OHEISTIAN 
SCHOOLS 


ANDREW   FLEMING  WEST 
^PaonsiOB  vs  Pbihcbton  Columi 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1912 


COPTRIGHT,   1892,  BT 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER^S  SONS 


HENRY  MORSE  STEPHE«« 


PKEFACE 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  present  a 
sketch"  of  Alcuin  in  his  relations  to  education, 
with  prefatory  and  supplementary  matter  suffi- 
cient to  indicate  his  antecedents  and  also  his 
connections  with  later  times.  The  account  given 
is  based  mainly  on  a  study  of  Alcuin's  writings, 
and  attempts,  so  far  as  possible,  to  let  Alcuin 
speak  for  himself,  rather  than  to  theorize  about 
him.  Such  books  about  Alcuin  and  his  pupils 
as  have  been  found  serviceable  have  also  be^n 
freely  consulted.  In  submission  to  the  present 
custom  of  historical  writers,  and  the  authority  of 
Shakspeare,  I  use  the  name  Charles  the  Great  in 
place  of  Charlemagne. 

ANDBEW  F.   WEST. 
Pkincbton  Collbok, 
September,  1892. 


S09755 


CONTENTS 


9Mn 

Lttroduotobt 1 

OBAP. 

L    The  Sbvbn  Libbsai.  Abts      .        •       •        •  4 

XL    Alcxtik  the  Scholab  at  Yobk      ...  28 

m.    Alottin  the  Masteb  of  the  Falaob  School  40 

rV.    Alcuin  the  Abbat  op  Toubs         .  .64 

V.    Alcuin's  Educational  Wbitings  ...  89 

VL    Alcuin's  Chaeactbb 117 

Vn.    Babantts  Maubus  and  Alcuin's  Othbb  Pupils  124 

YIIL    Alcuin's  Lateb  Influence    .       .       •       .  166 

APPENDIX 

Editions  of  Alouin 188 

Table  of  Dates         ....■••  193 

Books  on  Alcuin 197 

INDEX 199 

fil 


ALOUIN 

AMD 

THE  EISE  OP  THE  CHEISTIAN  SCHOOLS 


INTKODUCTORY 

At  the  mid-point  between  ancient  and  modem 
history  stands  the  commanding  figure  of  Charles 
the  Great.  The  centuries  of  the  Middle  Ages 
which  precede  him  record  the  decadence  and  final 
extinction  of  ancient  institutions,  while  the  nearly 
equal  number  of  centuries  which  follow  up  to  the 
time  of  the  Renaissance  and  Reformation  record 
the  preparation  for  modern  history.  Thus,  as  fin- 
isher of  the  old  order  of  things  and  beginner  of 
the  new,  he  is  the  central  secular  personage  in 
that  vast  stretch  of  time  between  antiquity  and 
the  modem  world,  which  we  call  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  fortunes  of  education  during  these  fifteen 
centuries  faU  in  well  with  the  character  of  the 
periods  which  mark  the  successive  phases  of  civili- 
zation in  the  West.  Before  Charles  there  are  two 
periods,  the  one  extending  through  the  first  four 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era  and  characterized  by 
the  decline  of  the  imperial  Roman  schools  of  learn- 

1 


1     '    :  :• :  \/  ALCUIN 

uig-and'the  concurrent  rise  of  Christianity ;  and  tlie 
other  embracing  nearly  four  centuries  more,  a  time 
of  confusion,  of  barbarian  inroads,  of  the  dying  out 
of  schools,  and  of  prevalent  intellectual  darkness. 
Then  begins,  under  Charles  at  the  end  of  the  eighth 
century,  a  third  period,  marked  at  its  outset  by  the 
first  general  establishment  of  education  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  an  establishment  lasting,  however,  but  a 
generation  or  two,  and  falling  into  ruin  as  a  new 
barbarism  overran  Europe.  This  period  lasted  well 
into  the  eleventh  century,  when  a  fourth  and  last 
medieval  period  began  with  a  second  restoration 
of  learning  under  the  influence  of  scholasticism, 
founding  the  universities,  but  itself  finally  decay- 
ing and  coming  to  an  end  at  the  Renaissance,  that 
third  and  final  revival  of  learning  which  was  so 
radical  and  powerful  as  to  become  the  beginning 
of  our  modem  age  in  education. 

These  are  the  three  revivals  of  learning  in  the 
West,  each  in  turn  stronger  than  its  predecessor. 
But  the  first  one  under  Charles  and  Alcuin,  though 
the  weakest,  is  yet  of  vital  importance  as  a  first 
stage  in  the  evolution  of  modern  education.  Nar- 
row and  technical  as  was  the  instruction  given, 
and  brief  as  was  the  duration  of  the  institutions 
founded,  it  still  remains  true  that  Charles  was  the 
first  monarch  in  the  history  of  Europe,  if  not  of  the 
world,  to  attempt  an  establishment  of  universal 
gratuitous  primary  education  as  well  as  of  higher 
schools.  Moreover,  as  the  result  of  Alcuin's  organ- 
izing sagacity,  a  body  of  men  devoted  to  teaohing 


INTRODUCTORY  S 

as  well  as  learning  was  created,  giving  some  degree 
of  continuity  to  education  down  to  the  founding  of 
the  universities  and  so  sheltering  studies  in  various 
monasteries  and  cathedrals  that  some  of  the  greater 
schools  thus  kept  alive,  or  offshoots  from  them, 
afterwards  became  natural  receptacles  for  the  new 
university  life  of  the  next  age. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  SEVEN  LIBERAL  ARTS 

The  seven  liberal  arts  which  embraced  the  studies 
constituting  the  curriculum  of  school  education  in 
the  Middle  Ages  were  an  inheritance  from  classical 
antiquity.  Their  origin  is  to  be  sought  in  Greek 
education.  Thus  Aristotle  in  his  Politics^  defines 
"the  liberal  sciences"  (eXevdepioi  eirur-njfuu)  as  the 
proper  subjects  of  instruction  for  free  men  who 
aspire  not  after  what  is  immediately  practical  or 
useful,  but  after  intellectual  and  moral  excellence 
in  general,  and  mentions  several  of  these  studies 
separately.  By  his  time  the  educational  doctrine  of 
the  Greeks  had  become  highly  developed  and  exhib- 
ited the  ideals  towards  which  the  best  Greek  minds 
endeavored  to  direct  their  educational  practice. 
We  are  not  to  suppose  that  by  the  terms  "  liberal 
arts,"  "liberal  studies "  and  "liberal  sciences "  they 
meant  either  the  whole  of  human  knowledge  or  even 
the  whole  of  liberal  culture,  for  although  the  terms 
are  not  always  employed  in  a  uniform  sense,  yet  they 
have  a  proper  sense  which  must  be  held  clearly  in 
mind,  if  we  would  avoid  confusion.  Their  proper 
meaning  is  this, — the  circle  of  disciplinary  school 

1  Vlll,  1.      For  a  full  notice  of  the  liberal  arts  in  Greek 
writers  see  the  Appendix  to  Davidson's  Aristotle  in  this  seriei. 
4 


THE   SEVEN  LIBERAL  ARTS  6 

studies  which  minister  to  the  general  education  of 
youth,  preparatory  to  the  higher  liberal  studies, 
which  are  compendiously  called  philosophy.  The 
distinction  between  the  liberal  arts  and  philosophy 
thus  contains  in  germ  the  distinction  between  what 
we  now  mean  by  gymnasial  and  university  educa- 
tion. It  is  of  course  true  that  the  liberal  arts  were 
not  always  spoken  of  consistently,  and  that  the 
practice  of  Greek  writers  may  be  compared  in  gen- 
eral with  the  varying  modern  use  of  the  word  "  edu- 
cation," but  it  is  no  less  true  that  to  the  Greeks 
the  liberal  arts  primarily  meant  the  circle  of  school 
studies.  In  fact  they  are  often  identical  with  school 
education  itself,  so  that  the  saying  of  Pythagoras, 
"  Education  must  come  before  philosophy,"  ^  meant 
to  the  Greeks  that  training  in  the  liberal  arts  must 
precede  the  higher  culture.  Philosophy  also,  as 
the  goal  of  the  earlier  studies,  is  not  infrequently 
styled  a  liberal  art,  sometimes  the  only  truly 
liberal  art.  Thus  Aristotle  affirms,  "It  alone  of 
the  sciences  is  liberal,  because  it  exists  solely  for 
its  own  sake  and  is  not  to  be  pursued  for  any 
extraneous  advantage."  * 

The  studies  which  came  to  be  regarded  as  liberal 
arts  were  grammar,  rhetoric,  dialectics,  music,  arith- 
metic, geometry,  and  astronomy.  It  is  not  clearly 
known  when  each  of  these  began  to  be  considered 
as  a  school  study,  or  how  many  of  them  were 
commonly  so  pursued,  or  that  they  were  the  only 

1  Hpo  <j>iKo<TO<t)iai  waiStia,  BtobaBU8|  Serftl.  XT  J. 

s  Metaphysig?,  I,  2, 


6  ALCUIN 

liberal  arts.  The  Greeks  did  not  formulate  an 
unalterably  fixed  body  of  studies,  seven  in  num- 
ber. No  list  of  seven  arts  nor  any  mention  of  seven 
as  the  number  of  the  liberal  arts  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Greek  writers.  However,  there  was  an  order 
in  which  they  were  pursued,  and  the  first  three, 
grammar,  rhetoric,  and  dialectics,  were  preparatory 
studies  which  were  generally  pursued  in  the  order 
stated.  The  other  four  disciplines  usually  came 
later,  and  it  is  probable  that  only  a  portion  of  those 
who  had  completed  their  grammar,  rhetoric,  and 
dialectics  passed  on  to  the  music,  arithmetic,  geom- 
etry, and  astronomy,  and  that  only  a  portion  of 
those  who  so  passed  onward  studied  all  the  four 
latter  arts.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  the  Greeks 
came  to  consider  acquaintance  with  the  liberal 
arts  as  a  general  education,  and  the  only  general 
education. 

By  the  time  of  Cicero  (b.c.  106-^3)  the  artes 
Uberales  had  passed  over  to  Eome  and  become  the 
groundwork  of  the  education  of  the  Roman  liber 
homo,  or  gentleman.  Cicero's  references  to  the  arts 
are  abundant  and  instructive,  furnishing  as  they 
do  ample  evidence  of  the  familiarity  of  educated 
Romans  of  the  late  Republic  with  the  studies 
of  the  Greeks.  But  it  was  not  the  writings  of 
Cicero  that  saved  the  liberal  arts  for  the  Middle 
Ages.  For  this  we  must  look  to  the  monumental 
work,  now  lost,  of  his  learned  contemporary  Varro 
(b.c.  116-27).  It  is  fortunate  indeed  that  such  a 
writer,  in  his  Libri  Novem  Disdplinarum,  gave  a 


THE  SEVEN  LIBERAL  ARTS  7 

full  account  of  the  arts  which  had  passed  over  from 
Greek  into  Eoman  education.  His  list  of  "disci- 
plines," as  worked  out  by  Eitschl,^  is  the  following : 
grammar,  dialectics,  rhetoric,  geometry,  arithmetic, 
astrology,  music,  medicine,  architecture.  Astrol- 
ogy of  course  answers  to  astronomy,  and  the  first 
seven  studies  in  his  list  are  consequently  the  well- 

1  Opuscula,  in,  371. 

Boissier  in  his  Etude  sur  la  Vie  et  les  Ouvrages  de  M.  T. 
Varron  argues  against  the  certainty  of  Ritschl's  identification 
of  the  "  nine  disciplines,"  holding  that  only  six  are  clearly  made 
out. 

In  his  treatise  on  the  Libri  Novem  Disdplinarum  of  Varro, 
now  published  in  the  third  volume  of  his  Opuscula,  Ritschl 
gathered  and  co-ordinated  with  marvelous  acuteness  the  many 
scattered  fragment  and  ancient  notices  connected  with  Varro's 
work,  and  concludes:  that  he  had  identified  each  one  of  the  "  nine 
disciplines  "  with  reasonable  certainty  and  their  order  of  presen- 
tation in  Varro  with  a  fair  degree  of  probability.  Boissier  saya 
Ritschl  afterwards  doubted  whether  he  had  sustained  his  identi- 
fication of  all  the  nine  with  sufficient  proof.  I  have  been  unable 
to  find  the  passage  where  Ritschl  avows  such  a  change  of  con- 
viction. 

Fortunately,  it  is  not  necessary  to  re-examine  Ritschl's  elabo- 
rate array  of  evidence  in  order  to  find  out  what  Varro's  "  nine 
disciplines"  were,  since  there  is  at  hand  a  simple  piece  of  proof 
which  covers  the  whole  case.  The  account  of  the  arts  in  Mar- 
tianus  Capella's  De  Nuptiis  PhilologisB  et  Mercuria  is  demon- 
strably a  popularized  account  of  the  studies  described  in  Varro's 
Libri  Novem  Disciplinarum.  Varro's  work  dealt  with  nine 
studies,  one  for  each  of  his  nine  books.  Martianus  likewise 
has  but  nine  studies,  and  these  are  precisely  the  nine  worked 
out  by  Ritschl  as  Varro's  "  nine  disciplines." 

But  even  if  only  six  on  Ritschl's  list  were  proved  to  belong  to 
Varro's  nine,  yet,  since  these  six  are  likewise  six  of  the  nine  of 
Martianus,  the  presumption  that  the  unidentified  three  of  Varro 
would  match  the  remaining  three  of  Martianus  is  very  strong. 


B  ALCUIN 

known  arts  of  the  Greeks,  but  medicine  and  archi- 
tecture are  added.  It  is  very  plain  that  Varro  had 
not  in  mind  any  limitation  of  the  arts  to  seven, 
and  yet  it  would  not  be  safe  to  assert  he  meant 
that  all  his  "nine  disciplines"  were  liberal  arts. 
Perhaps  he  did,  but  more  likely  all  he  meant  to 
represent  by  the  "  nine  disciplines  "  was  the  studies 
generally,  whether  liberal  or  professional,  which 
the  Eomans  had  inherited  from  the  Greeks. 

Passing  on  to  the  time  of  the  early  Empire,  we 
may  trace  the  course  of  the  liberal  arts  in  the  writ- 
ings of  the  younger  Seneca  (b.c.  8-a.d.  65)  and 
Quintilian  (a.d.  35-96),  both  of  whom  were  well 
acquainted  with  the  writings  of  Varro  and  refer  to 
him  as  their  authority.  In  Seneca's  famous  Epistle 
to  I/ucilius  ^  on  liberal  studies,  five  of  the  arts  are 
enumerated  and  described  in  the  following  order : 
grammar,  and  then  music,  geometry,  arithmetic, 
and  astronomy.  This,  though  incomplete,  yet  corre- 
sponds, so  far  as  it  goes,  with  Varro  and  the  Greeks. 
It  is  also  true  that  he  recognizes  in  his  very  next 
letter^  the  distinction  between  rhetoric  and  dialec- 
tics ;  but  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  from  this 
that  he  recognized  these  seven  as  all  the  liberal  arts, 
or  that  he  consciously  recognized  any  unalterably 
fixed  list.  Indeed  he  speaks  in  another  letter '  of 
medicine  as  a  liberal  art,  and  may  have  followed 

I  JSpist.  Morale  Lib.  Xm,  Ep.  Ill,  3-15.  Ed.  Haase,  Leipsic, 
1886. 

«  Epist.  Moral,  Lib.  XIV,  Ep.  I,  17. 
»  fpiat.  Moral.,  Lib.  XV,  Ep.  lU,  a 


THE  SEVEN  LIBERAL  ARTS  0 

Varro  in  doing  so.  Shortly  after  Seneca  comes 
Quintilian,  in  whose  writings  the  arts  are  more 
strictly  co-ordinated  as  a  complete  course  of  school 
instruction.  He  speaks  in  his  Institutes  of  Oratory 
of  the  departments  of  study  which  need  to  be  pur- 
sued "  in  order  that  that  circle  of  instruction,  which 
the  Greeks  call  cyKwAios  iraihua,  may  be  completed."  ^ 
He  also  mentions  as  such  studies  grammar,  rhetoric, 
music,  and  geometry,  making  the  geometry  include 
arithmetic,  geometry,  and  astronomy.  These  six 
might  perhaps  be  regarded  as  really  seven  if  we 
suppose  that  Quintilian  combined  dialectics  with 
rhetoric,  as  was  sometimes  done ;  but  in  any  event  it 
is  clear  that  he,  like  Seneca,  had  not  formulated  an 
exclusive  list  of  seven  or  any  other  number.  Yet 
it  is  also  clear  that  as  with  the  Greeks,  so  with 
the  Eomans,  grammar  remained  the  inevitable  first 
study,  with  rhetoric  and  probably  dialectics  im- 
mediately following,  and  that  the  foiarfold  division 
into  arithmetic,  music,  geometry,  and  astronomy 
held  its  own  as  a  natural  distribution  for  the  suc- 
ceeding studies. 

The  Roman  civilization,  and  with  it  the  educa- 
tion established  in  the  imperial  schools,  passed  on 
to  its  decline,  partly  from  interior  moral  decay, 
partly  by  external  barbarian  assault,  and  even 
more  irrevocably  through  the  supplanting  power 
of  the  new  ideals  introduced  by  Christianity.  We 
are  chiefly  concerned  with  the  last  of  these,  and 
more  particularly  here  with  the  twofold  attitude 

^  Institutio  Oratoria,  I,  cap.  10, 1.  Ritschl,  Opuscula,  III,  354. 


10  ALCUIN 

assumed  by  the  early  Church  of  the  West  towards 
the  arts.  The  first  position  was  one  of  antagonism. 
Thus  Tertullian  proscribes  pagan  learning  as  both 
ineffectual  and  immoral,  — apparently  a  most  harsh 
and  indefensible  judgment.  But  if  we  keep  in 
view  the  utter  vileness  of  a  great  number  of  the 
so-called  professors  or  teachers  of  the  arts  in  the 
time  of  the  Empire,  a  fact  easily  proven  from 
the  writings  of  Seneca  and  Quintilian,  and  the  gross 
immoralities  of  pagan  religion  which  were  a  nat- 
ural development  of  so  much  of  the  mythology 
that  tainted  their  literature,  it  will  be  seen  that  an 
antagonistic  attitude  to  certain  phases  of  pagan  cul- 
ture was  inevitable  from  the  first  on  the  part  of  the 
Church,  and  this  might  easily  pass  into  a  proscrip- 
tion of  the  liberal  arts.  "The  patriarchs  of  phi- 
losophy," says  Tertullian,  "are  the  patriarchs  of 
heresy."  He  also  decries  them  as  "hucksters  of 
philosophy  and  rhetoric."  Lactantius  says,  "  They 
do  not  edify  but  destroy  our  lives,"  and  even 
Augustine  calls  them  "  croaking  frogs."  "  Refrain 
from  all  the  writings  of  the  heathen,"  is  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Apostolical  Constitutions,^ "  for  what 
hast  thou  to  do  with  strange  discourses,  laws,  or 
false  prophets,  which  in  truth  turn  aside  from  the 
faith  those  who  are  weak  in  understanding  ?  For 
if  thou  wilt  explore  history,  thou  hast  the  Books 
of  the  Kings ;  or  seekest  thou  for  words  of  wisdom 
and  eloquence,  thou  hast  the  Prophets,  Job,  and 

1  Quoted  and  translated  in  Mulllnger's  Schools  of  Charles  tJU 
<?r««(,p.8. 


THE  SEVEN  LIBERAL  ARTS  11 

the  Book  of  Proverbs,  wherein  thou  shalt  find  a 
more  perfect  knowledge  of  all  eloquence  and  wis- 
dom, for  they  are  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  the  only 
wise  God.  Or  dost  thou  long  for  tuneful  strains, 
thou  hast  the  Psalms ;  or  to  explore  the  origin  of 
things,  thou  hast  the  Book  of  Genesis ;  or  for  cus- 
toms and  observances,  thou  hast  the  excellent  law 
of  the  Lord  God.  Wherefore  abstain  scrupulously 
from  all  strange  and  devilish  books."  Such  is  an 
authoritative  utterance  of  the  early  church,  so  that 
we  need  feel  no  surprise  at  finding  it  echoed  by  her 
great  doctors.  Was  it  not  Augustine  who  made 
famous  the  saying,  Indocti  cesium  rapiunt,  "It  is 
the  ignorant  who  take  the  kingdom  of  Heaven"; 
and  did  not  Gregoiy  the  Great  assert  that  he  would 
blush  to  have  Holy  Scripture  subjected  to  the  rules 
of  grammar  ? 

But  though  antagonism  was  the  first  position  of 
the  Church,  and  a  necessary  position  in  her  first 
encounter  with  paganism,  there  were  influential 
voices  raised  on  the  other  side,  and  this  harsh  opin- 
ion was  gradually  modified,  so  that  by  the  fourth 
and  fifth  centuries  it  was  superseded  by  a  better 
view.  The  liberal  arts  and  their  sequel,  the 
ancient  philosophy,  came  to  be  regarded  with 
qualified  approval,  and  despite  his  other  utter- 
ances which  embody  the  earlier  attitude  of  the 
Church,  it  was  again  the  great  Augustine  (a.d. 
354-430),  the  literary  as  well  as  the  theological 
leader  of  Western  Christendom  in  his  time,  who 
was  most  influential  in  committing  the  Ghuich  to 


12  ALCUIN 

a  recognition  of  the  arts  and  philosophy  as  suitable 
studies  for  the  Christian.  This  was  accomplished 
on  the  ground  that  they  were  useful  —  nay,  even 
necessary,  for  the  understanding  of  the  Scriptures. 
His  views  are  best  set  forth  in  his  treatise.  On 
Christian  Instruction,  which  was  completed  in  his 
seventy-second  year,  and  may  therefore  be  assumed 
to  represent  his  final  judgment.  Nothing  freer  or 
more  comprehensive  has  been  said  even  under  the 
light  of  later  Christianity  than  the  maxim  he  has 
there  recorded,  Quisquis  bonus  verusque  Christianus 
est,  Domini  sui  esse  intelligat,  ubicumque  invenerit 
veritatem, "  Let  every  good  and  true  Christian  know 
that  truth  is  the  truth  of  his  Lord  and  Master,  where- 
soever it  be  found."  ^  Such  words  foreshadow  the 
whole  revolution  in  the  ideals  of  education  intro- 
duced by  Christianity.  In  the  same  treatise  he  draws 
a  beautiful  though  fanciful  parallel  between  Israel 
and  the  Egyptians  at  the  time  of  the  Exodus,  and  the 
similar  situation  of  the  Christians  of  his  time,  emerg- 
ing from  the  spiritual  bondage  of  paganism.  "  As 
the  land  of  Egypt,"  he  writes,  "  contained  idols  for 
Israel  to  abominate  and  grievous  burdens  for  them 
to  flee,  yet  there  were  also  vessels  and  ornaments 
of  gold  and  silver,  which  Israel  going  out  of  Egypt 
took  with  them  to  devote  to  a  better  use,  not  of 
their  own  right,  but  at  the  command  of  God,  the 
Egyptians  themselves  unwittingly  furnishing  what 
they  themselves  had  been  putting  to  an  evil  use. 
So  all  the  teachings  of  the  heathen  contain  vain 
^  De  Doctrina  Christiana,  U,  cap.  17. 


THE  SEVEN  LIBERAL  ARTS  Ih 

and  idolatrous  inventions  and  grievous  burdens  ot 
unnecessary  labor,  and  every  one  of  us  as  we  go 
out  from  heathendom,  under  Christ  our  Moses, 
ought  to  abominate  the  one  and  flee  the  other. 
Yet  there  are  likewise  the  liberal  disciplines,  well 
suited  to  the  service  of  the  truth,  and  containing, 
moreover,  very  useful  moral  precepts  and  truths 
regarding  the  worship  of  the  one  true  God.  This 
is  their  gold  and  silver,  which  they  have  not 
created  themselves,  but  have  extracted  from  certain 
ores,  as  it  were,  of  precious  metal,  wheresoever 
they  found  them  scattered  by  the  hand  of  divine 
providence.  So,  also,  they  have  raiment,  the  hu- 
man institutions  and  customs  wherewith  they  are 
clothed.  These  we  need  for  our  life  here  below, 
and  should  appropriate  and  turn  them  to  a  better 
use.  For  what  else  than  this  have  many  of  the 
good  and  faithful  done  ?  Behold  how  that  most 
persuasive  doctor  and  blessed  martyr  Cyprian  came 
out  of  Egypt,  laden  with  what  great  spoil  of  their 
gold  and  silver  and  raiment !  How  much  did  not 
Lactantius  take !  and  Victorinus,  and  Optatus,  and 
Hilary,  not  to  speak  of  those  now  living  or  of  the 
innumerable  Greek  fathers.  Moses  also,  that  most 
faithful  servant  of  God,  did  so  long  ago,  for  is  it 
not  written  that  he  was  learned  in  all  the  wisdom 
of  the  Egyptians  ?  "  ^  Spoil  the  Egyptians  !  Take 
their  gold  and  silver  and  raiment.  Take  all  the 
truths  of  the  pagan  schools  and  use  them  in  the 
service  of  Christ.  Henceforth  the  Christian  if 
^  De  Doctrina  Chr-utiana,  II,  cap.  40. 


14  ALCUm 

not  shut  up  to  rejecting  or  taking  secular  culture 
as  a  whole,  but  he  is  to  select  the  best.  A  middle 
course,  which  is  not  a  mere  compromise,  is  thus 
opened  up,  avoiding  the  extreme  of  TertuUian  in 
proscribing  secular  learning  and  the  other  later 
extreme  of  the  Benaissance  in  taking  all,  whether 
base  or  excellent. 

Let  us  not  be  misled  into  supposing  that  Augus- 
tine thought  the  arts  or  philosophy  were  to  be 
studied  purely  for  their  own  sake.  Not  so,  —  for 
he  reasons  that  if  the  spoil  of  Egypt  taken  by 
Israel  was  great,  yet  the  treasures  of  Solomon  in 
Jerusalem  were  far  greater.  Accordingly  he  writes : 
"As  was  the  amount  of  gold  and  silver  and  raiment 
taken  by  Israel  out  of  Egypt  when  compared  with 
the  treasures  they  amassed  afterwards  in  Jerusalem, 
treasures  at  their  greatest  when  Solomon  was  king, 
such  is  all  knowledge,  useful  though  it  be,  which 
is  gathered  from  the  books  of  the  heathen,  when 
compared  with  the  knowledge  of  the  divine  Scrip- 
tures. For  whatever  man  has  spoken  elsewhere,  if 
it  be  harmful,  it  is  here  condemned ;  if  it  be  use- 
ful, it  is  herein  contained."^  The  Scriptures  are 
the  final  test  of  the  "  harmful "  and  the  "  useful." 
They  are  even  more,  for  they  embrace  whatever 
of  human  learning  is  useful.  Inconsistent  indeed 
is  this  position  with  Augustine's  other  statements 
and  with  his  injunction  to  study  the  good  things 
in  the  liberal  arts,  if  it  be  true  that  these  things 
are  already  in  the  Scriptures.    It  sounds  like  a 

1  J)e  Doctrina  Christiana,  II,  cap.  41 


THE  SEVEN  LIBERAL  ARTS  16 

late  echo  of  Tertullian.  But  let  it  be  remembered 
tbat  Augustine  represents  in  himself  the  history 
of  the  differing  successive  attitudes  of  the  Church 
towards  pagan  culture,  and  that  the  general  tenor 
of  his  writings  is  decidedly  in  favor  of  studying 
the  arts  and  philosophy,  though  not  solely  or 
principally  for  themselves,  but  as  ancillary  to  the 
supreme  spiritual  teachings  of  the  Bible. 

Augustine's  connections  with  the  liberal  arts  are 
even  more  definite.  He  had  himseK  been  a  teacher 
of  rhetoric  before  his  conversion,  and  a  writer  on 
seven  of  the  arts.  The  record  of  this,  in  his 
Retractations,  which  was  written  shortly  before 
427,  is  of  distinct  importance,  particularly  from 
the  fact  that  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the  writ- 
ings of  Varro,  to  whom  he  frequently  refers  as  his 
greatest  authority.  He  states  that  while  at 'Milan 
awaiting  baptism,  he  endeavored  to  write  Discvpli- 
narum  lAhri  (almost  the  title  of  Varro's  old  work), 
and  that  he  finished  only  a  book  on  grammar  and 
part  of  another  on  music  .^  After  his  baptism  he  re- 
turned to  Africa  and  continued  what  he  had  begun 
at  Milan.  Besides  the  two  treatises  mentioned,  he 
says  that  he  wrote  de  oliis  vero  quinque  discipUnis 
similiter  inchoatis,  that  is,  finished  books  he  had 
begun  upon  five  other  disciplines,  in  addition  to 
grammar  and  music.  It  has  been  held  by  many  with 
Kitschl'  that  this  means  "on  the  other  five  disci- 
plines," and  that  Augustine  consequently  recognizes 

1  Retractationes,  I,  cap.  6. 

*  OpwciUa  Fhilologica,  III,  364. 


1«  ALCUIN 

seven  as  the  total  number  of  the  liberal  arts.  But 
such  cannot  be  proved  from  this  passage,  because 
it  is  possible  that  de  aliis  quinque  disciplinis  means 
"on  five  other  disciplines."  It  is  clear,  however, 
that  Augustine  enumerates  seven  arts  which  he 
recognizes  as  liberal,  and  that  he  nowhere  else 
recognizes  more.^  His  list  is  as  follows :  Gram- 
mar and  music,  as  above  stated,  and  besides  them 
the  following  "  five  other  disciplines " :  dialec- 
tics, rhetoric,  geometry,  arithmetic,  and  philoso- 
phy. Elsewhere^  he  speaks  of  pursuing  memo- 
ratum  discipUnarum  ordinem,  a  previously  cited 
"order  of  the  disciplines,"  and  in  still  another 
passage'  of  having  studied  in  his  youth  omnes 
libros  artium  quas  liberales  vacant,  "  all  the  books 
of  the  so-called  liberal  arts."  Taking  all  his 
stateihents  in  one  view  it  becomes  plain  that 
Augustine  listed  only  seven  liberal  arts,  and  that 
he  refers  to  a  fixed  order  among  them  and  to  his 
acquaintance  with  each  one.  His  list  is  remark- 
able in  one  respect,  for  astronomy  is  lacking  and 
in  its  place  we  find  philosophy,  a  substitution  appar- 
ently due  to  Augustine's  deep  abhorrence  of  astrol- 

1  Nor  does  he  seem  to  recognize  less  than  seven  in  any  gen- 
eral account  of  the  arts.  It  is  true  that  in  another  work  {De 
Ordine,  lib.  II),  when  giving  a  general  description  though  not 
making  out  a  formal  list,  he  names  only  six,  —  grammar,  rhet- 
oric, dialectics,  music,  geometry,  astronomy.  But  he  describes 
seven,  for  he  treats  of  arithmetic,  or  "numbers,"  under  the 
geometry.  Thus  in  this  account  he  deals  with  the  same  disci- 
plines as  in  the  Retractations,  except  that  his  favorite  philoso- 
phy is  replaced  by  the  traditional  astronomy. 

*J)e  Ordine,  II,  16.  «  Con/essiones,  IV,  cap.  16, 30. 


THE  SEVEN  LIBERAL  ARTS  M 

ogy  as  an  impious  art  and  his  love  for  philosophy, 
which  he  puts  in  its  place  as  the  last  and  presum- 
ably the  highest  study. 

But  why  should  Augustine  have  only  seven  arts 
in  his  list  ?  Certainly  not  by  accident.  He  exer- 
cised some  choice  in  the  matter,  as  appears  from 
his  substituting  philosophy  for  astronomy.  Varro 
had  written  on  nine  disciplines,  and  though  Augus- 
tine refers  to  him  repeatedly  as  an  authority,  he 
does  not  adhere  to  Varro's  number.  The  point  is 
obscure.  It  may  be  Augustine  knew  of  the  seven 
arts  in  Martianus  Capella's  book,  or  that,  though 
the  arts  were  settling  down  to  a  body  of  seven  by 
his  time,^  the  limitation  to  seven  was  not  definitely 
before  his  mind.  The  important  point,  however,  in 
connection  with  Augustine,  is  not  the  number  of 
the  arts. 

His  position  and  influence  may  now  be  summar- 
ized with  clearness.  His  settled  view,  attained  after 
long  meditation,  was  one  of  favorable  regard  toward 
the  arts,  principally  because  they  ministered  to 
the  better  understanding  of  distinctively  Christian 
truths.  Expressions  of  a  different  tenor  are  indeed 
to  be  found  here  and  there  in  his  writings.  At  one 
time  he  seems  to  go  back  to  the  idea  that  secular 
studies  are  useless,  though  not  to  be  proscribed,  and 
at  another  to  advance  fearlessly  to  the  position 
that  all  truth  everywhere  is  to  be  reverenced,  in  or 
out  of  the  Scriptures,  thus  mirroring  in  his  own 

1  Possibly  throagh  an  Alexaudriau  influence,  which  we  are 
UBable  to  trace  at  present. 


IS  ALcum 

experience  the  early  rigid  attitude  of  the  Church 
at  the  one  extreme  as  well  as  the  enlightened  atti- 
tude of  the  distant  future  Eeformation  at  the  other, 
but  finally  resting  midway  between  them.  His 
influence  was  so  commanding  that  from  his  time 
onward  the  Church  was  decisively  committed  to 
the  toleration  and  even  the  encouragement  of  secu- 
lar studies. 

And  yet  Augustine  does  not  stand  alone  in  accred- 
iting the  liberal  arts  to  the  Christian  Middle  Ages. 
Another  influence,  potent,  though  at  first  reluc- 
tantly acknowledged  by  Christian  writers,  came 
from  Martianus  Capella  of  Carthage,  who  was  either 
contemporary  with  Augustine  or  else  somewhat 
earlier.*  He  wrote  an  allegorical  treatise  entitled 
The  Marriage  of  Philology  and  Mercury,  in  a  turgid, 
fantastical  manner  which  had  been  fastened  on  the 
Latinity  of  North  Africa  by  Apuleius.  The  book 
is  consequently  not  only  tiresome  in  its  rhetorical 
luxuriance,  but  is  often  so  involved  and  obscure 
that  we  are  puzzled  to  determine  whether  the 
author's  peculiarities  in  any  given  instance  are  due 
to  his  affected  style  or  to  an  intention  to  be  enig- 
matic.   The  object  of  the  treatise,  however,  is  quite 

1  The  date  of  Martianus  Capella  was  commonly  suppose  to 
be  either  in  the  5th  or  6th  century  of  our  era,  until  the  appear- 
ance of  Eyssenhardt's  edition  in  1866.  He  proves  that  Martianus 
Capella's  book  must  have  been  written  before  the  destruction  of 
Carthage  by  the  Vandals  in  439,  but  is  unable  to  show  how  long 
before.  Parker  argues  that  the  book  was  written  before  Byzan- 
tium was  called  Constantinople,  that  is,  before  the  year  330 
(English  HUtorictU  Review,  July,  1890,  pp.  4M-416). 


THE   SEVEN  LIBERAL  ARTS  19 

clear.  It  was  to  describe  in  a  fanciful  way  the 
liberal  disciplines  of  Varro.  Martianus  himself 
appears  to  have  been  a  self-taught  man.  He  set 
before  him  the  writing  of  his  book  as  a  task  for 
winter  nights,  and  adopted  the  medley  of  prose  and 
verse  which  had  gained  a  place  in  literature  through 
the  influence  of  Varro's  medleys,  constructed  in  this 
fashion  and  known  as  Saturce,  as  a  proper  literary 
receptacle  for  his  rambling  but  copious  account  of 
the  liberal  arts.  So  he  tells  us  figuratively  at  the  end 
of  his  book  that  he  has  exhibited  his  literary  god- 
dess Satura,  "prattling  away  as  she  heaps  things 
learned  and  unlearned  together,  mingling  things 
sacred  with  things  profane,  huddling  together  both 
the  muses  and  the  gods,  and  representing  the 
cyclic  disciplines  babbling  unlearnedly  in  an  un- 
polished tale."  ^  The  "  cyclic  disciplines  "  are  the 
liberal  arts,  the  encycUus  disciplina  (ey/cwXtos 
ircuScui)  of  classical  antiquity,  and  they  become 
interlocutors  in  his  allegory.  The  subject  of  his 
treatise,  consisting  of  nine  books,  is  the  marriage 
of  Mercury  with  Philology,  the  daughter  of  Wis- 
dom. Mercury,  as  the  inventor  of  letters,  symbol- 
izes the  arts  of  Greece  of  heaven-born  origin,  while 
his  bride,  Philology,  is  an  earth-born  maiden  repre- 
senting school  learning.  After  the  consent  of  Jupi- 
ter has  been  given  to  this  union  of  god  and  mortal, 

1  Loquax  docta  indoctis  adgerans 
Fandis  tacenda  farcinat,  immiscnit 
Masas  deosque,  disciplinas  cyclicas 
Oariire  agresti  cruda  finxit  plasmate. 

— Book  ix  (closing  lines). 


20  ALCXTIN 

the  nuptials  are  celebrated  in  the  shining  Milky 
Way  with  the  liberal  arts  as  the  seven  bridesmaids. 
The  first  two  books  are  occupied  with  the  wedding 
and  the  other  seven  treat,  each  in  turn,  of  the  seven 
liberal  arts  in  the  persons  of  the  bridesmaids. 
Grammar  thus  occupies  the  third  book,  dialectics 
the  fourth,  rhetoric  the  fifth,  geometry  the  sixth, 
arithmetic  the  seventh,  astronomy  the  eighth  and 
music  the  ninth.  The  list  is  significant,  for  it  tal- 
lies with  that  of  Augustine,  except  so  far  as  concerns 
astronomy,  — a  discrepancy  of  no  importance, — and 
it  differs  from  Varro  in  expressly  omitting  medicine 
and  architecture,  which  had  completed  his  "nine  dis- 
ciplines." As  there  is  no  evidence  of  any  connection 
between  the  writings  of  Augustine  and  Martianus 
Capella,  and  good  reason  to  believe  that  Augustine 
would  not  regard  his  purely  pagan  account  with 
respect,  especially  as  it  contained  contemptuous, 
though  concealed  flings  at  Christian  doctrines, 
their  agreement  in  keeping  to  seven  liberal  arts 
is  remarkable  and  goes  far  toward  proving  that 
the  arts  were  commonly  supposed  to  be  seven  by 
or  before  the  time  of  Augustine.  Oddly  enough, 
Martianus  Capella  never  thinks  of  attaching  any 
importance  to  the  fact  that  they  were  seven,  though 
he  enlarges  on  the  mystical  character  of  the  Heptas 
or  septenary  number  ^  in  other  connections.  Yet  his 
limitation  is  none  the  less  intentional,  for  medicine 
and  architecture,  which  were  very  probably,  if  not 
certainly,  two  of  Varro's  nine,  are  expressly  rejected 
ipp.  262  and  265,  Eyssenhardt's  edition,  1866. 


THE  SEVEN  LIBERAL  ARTS  21 

as  bridesmaids.  After  six  of  the  bridesmaids  have 
appeared  before  Jupiter  and  discoursed  at  length, 
the  Father  of  the  Gods  turns  and  asks  Apollo  how 
many  more  of  these  excellent  maidens  are  yet  in 
waiting.  Apollo  tells  him  that  both  medicine  and 
architecture  are  at  hand,  but  adds,  "Inasmuch  as 
they  are  concerned  with  perishable  earthly  things, 
and  have  nothing  in  common  with  what  is  ethereal 
and  divine,  it  will  be  quite  fitting  that  they  be 
rejected  with  disdain."  Accordingly  they  are  re- 
fused entrance,  and  music,  the  seventh  bridesmaid 
and  "only  remaining"  heaven-bom  art,  is  given 
audience.^ 

The  meaning  is  plain.  Medicine  and  architec- 
ture are  excluded  because  they  are  not  purely  lib- 
eral studies.  They  do  not  elevate  the  mind  to  the 
contemplation  of  abstract  truth,  but  are  of  the 
earth,  earthy,  and  consequently  unfit  for  the  com- 
pany of  the  celestials.  They  are  of  the  useful  and 
professional  arts.  This  limitation  of  the  arts  by 
Martianus  is  therefore  based  on  their  character  as 
liberal  studies,  though  the  limitation  to  seven  was 
not  due  to  reverence  for  that  number.     His  arts 

1 "  Superum  pater  .  .  .  qui  probandarum  (=artium)  nomerus 
superesset  .  .  .  exquirit.  Cui  Delius  Medicinam  suggerit  Archi- 
tectonicamque  in  praeparatis  adsistere,  '  sed  quoaiam  his  mor- 
talium  rerum  cura  terrenorumque  soUertia  est  nee  cum  aethere 
quicquam  habfent  superisque  confine,  non  incongrue,  si  fastidio 
respnuntur'"  (p.  332).  After  further  talk  Jupiter  answers, 
"Nunc  igitur  prsecellentissimam  feminarum  Harmonicam 
(=  Musicam)  qux  Mercurialium  tola  superest  audiamus  "  (p.  336, 
Eyssenhardt's  edition). 


8S  ALCUIN 

in  the  eyes  of  Christian  writers  were  unbaptized 
pagans,  but  the  fact  that  they  were  seven  did 
much  towards  securing  them  a  Christian  standing. 
After  Martianus  Capella,  whose  book  was  very 
slow  in  getting  in  with  the  company  of  Christian 
writings  and  consequently  of  exercising  its  strong 
influence  which  came  much  later,  the  next  name 
of  importance  in  the  fortunes  of  the  liberal  arts  is 
that  of  the  philosopher  Boethius  (481-525).  His 
is  the  last  name  in  the  history  of  ancient  philos- 
ophy, and  apart  from  a  few  expressions  and  terms 
which  bear  a  Christian  aspect,  he  must  be  accounted 
a  pagan  in  his  culture.  His  importance  for  the  his- 
tory of  education  is  due  to  his  translations  of  Greek 
works  which  became  text-books  to  a  large  degree 
for  the  whole  of  the  Middle  Ages.  He  composed 
versions  or  adaptations  of  treatises  on  arithmetic, 
geometry,  the  logic  of  Aristotle,  besides  other  writ- 
ings of  Aristotle  and  of  Porphyry,  and  several 
commentaries  of  his  own,  principally  on  Aristotle 
and  Cicero.  This  slender  equipment  was  a  chief 
part  of  what  was  saved  to  the  early  schools  of  the 
Middle  Ages  from  Greek  antiquity.  Boethius  has 
left  no  general  account  of  the  seven  arts,  nor  is 
there  to  be  found  in  his  writings  any  indication 
that  he  thought  the  number  noteworthy  in  this 
connection.  His  significance  lies  in  the  fact  that 
his  writings  served  as  text-books  and  as  a  source 
for  other  writers  on  the  arts  to  draw  from.  It 
is  perhaps  worth  noticing,  however,  that  he  is  ap- 
parently the  first  to  employ  the  term  qitadrivium 


THE  SEVEN  LIBERAL  ARTS  S8 

as  the  name  for  the  combined  study  of  music, 
arithmetic,  geometry,  and  astronomy.  It  is  also 
possible  that  the  word  trivium,  as  a  formal  designa- 
tion for  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  dialectics,  goes  back 
to  his  time.  At  any  rate,  the  substantial  distinc- 
tion between  the  trivium  as  an  elementary  course 
of  study  in  language  and  discourse  as  opposed  to 
the  quadrivium,  the  later  study  of  the  sciences, 
emerges  in  his  writings. 

A  contemporary  and  friend  of  Boethius,  and 
like  him,  of  noble  family,  was  the  Eoman  senator 
Cassiodorus  (468-569),  who  retired  in  his  old  age 
from  the  turmoil  of  public  life  and  the  increas- 
ing barbarism  of  Italy  under  its  Gothic  rulers, 
taking  shelter  in  his  monastery  in  Calabria,  where 
he  spent  his  remaining  years  in  the  service  of 
Christian  learning.  He  attempted  to  stimulate 
the  monks  to  unflagging  study,  particularly  to  the 
copying  of  manuscripts,  and  was  in  this  way  influ- 
ential in  extending  the  practice  into  most  of  the 
monastic  orders  of  Latin  Christendom.  Besides  ren- 
dering this  important  service  to  learning,  he  wrote 
assiduously  both  on  Christian  and  secular  subjects. 
One  of  his  books  is  entitled  On  the  Arts  and  Disci- 
plines  of  Liberal  Letters.  He  had  previously  writ- 
ten his  book  On  the  Institutes  of  Sacred  Letters 
in  thirty-three  chapters,  one  chapter  for  each  year 
of  our  Lord's  earthly  life.  He  thinks  it  fit,  there- 
fore, that  his  book  on  the  liberal  arts  should  also 
be  divided  into  parts  according  to  a  suitable  num- 
ber.   Seven  is,  of  course,  the  one  number  that  will 


24  ALCUIN 

match.  Accordingly  he  opens  his  preface  by  say- 
ing :  "  It  is  now  time  that  we  should  hasten  through 
the  text  of  the  book  we  have  in  hand  imder 
seven  other  titles  suitable  to  secular  letters.  Let 
us  understand  plainly  that  whensoever  the  Holy 
Scriptures  mean  to  set  forth  anything  as  entire 
and  complete,  as  they  frequently  do,  it  is  compre- 
hended under  that  number,  even  as  David  says, 
'  Seven  times  in  the  day  have  I  spoken  praises 
unto  thee,'  and  Solomon,  'Wisdom  hath  builded 
her  house,  she  hath  hewn  out  her  seven  pil- 
lars.' "  ^  Here  is  a  new  reinforcement  coming  from 
Scripture  itself.  The  old  plea  of  Augustine  on 
their  behalf  was  that  the  arts  helped  towards 
understanding  the  Scriptures,  and  although  the 
fact  that  they  were  seven  might  naturally  give 
them  favor  in  his  eyes,  yet  he  had  not  thought 
to  build  an  argument  thereon.  Cassiodorus  uses 
this  consideration  as  though  it  were  a  new  one  in 
connection  with  the  arts,  and  however  slight  it  may 
seem  to  us,  it  became  forcible  enough  to  the  mys- 
tical-number worshippers  of  medieval  times.  The 
arts  are  seven  and  only  seven.  But  this  is  the 
scriptural  number  for  what  is  complete  and  per- 

1  "  Nunc  tempus  est  ut  aliis  septem  titulis  saecnlarinm  lit- 
terarum  praesentis  libri  (textum)  percurrere  debeamus.  .  .  . 
Sciendum  est  plane  quoniam  frequenter  quidquid  continuum 
atque  perpetuum  Scriptura  Sanctavult  intelligi,  sub  isto  numero 
comprehendit ;  sicut  dicit  David :  '  Septies  in  die  laudem  dixi 
tibi  '  .  .  .  Et  Salomon :  '  Sapientia  sedificavit  sibi  domum, 
ezcidit  colunmas  septem' "  (Migne,  Patrologia  Latina,  LXX, 
1150). 


THE  SEVEN  LIBERAL  ARTS  25 

feet,  and  therefore  the  Christian  must  hold  them 
in  due  honor. 

His  list  of  the  arts  is  that  found  in  Martianus 
Capella,  to  whom  he  is  under  evident  obligations. 
But  they  are  unacknowledged,  and  Martianus  him- 
self is  only  referred  to  in  a  contemptuous  man- 
ner as  a  Satura  Doctor,  or  undignified  medley- 
writer.  This  much,  however,  may  be  assumed, 
that  Cassiodorus  adhered  to  the  list  of  the  arts 
he  found  in  Martianus  Capella,  much  as  he  must 
have  abominated  his  undisguised  paganism  and  pre- 
tentiously swollen  style,  and  then  proceeded  to  write 
a  compend  suitable  for  Christian  use.  His  account 
is  short  and  in  no  way  original  or  forcible.  The 
chapter  on  grammar  is  an  abridgment  of  Donatus, 
the  greatest  of  the  Roman  grammarians.  His  rhet- 
oric is  based  to  a  considerable  extent  on  Cicero. 
His  dialectics  come  in  part  from  Varro  but  princi- 
pally from  Boethius.  It  is  really  Boethius  made 
easy  for  beginners.  These  three,  grammar,  rhet- 
oric and  dialectics,  he  calls  arts,  and  the  next  four 
are  called  disciplines.  Of  his  four  disciplines,  his 
arithmetic  comes  from  Nicomachus  and  Boethius, 
his  music  from  various  sources,  his  geometry  mainly 
from  Varro  and  from  the  little  of  Euclid  that  was 
translated  by  Boethius,  and  lastly  his  astronomy 
from  Boethius.  Rudimentary  and  brief  as  his  book 
is,  it  is  not  to  be  despised,  for  it  was  not  so  much 
the  content  as  the  spirit  of  his  labor  which  had 
value.  It  helped  to  fasten  the  tradition  of  learn- 
ing on  the  meuastery  and  school  life  of  centuries. 


20  ALCTHN 

Thus  far  the  liberal  arts  have  been  saved  either 
in  treatises  or  compends,  but  the  next  writer  who 
gives  them  shelter  accords  them  a  small  comer 
in  what  was  the  first  encyclopedia.  This  work  is 
the  so-called  Etymologies  of  Isidore,  bishop  of  Se- 
ville in  Spain  (died  636) .  By  his  time  barbarism 
had  wellnigh  extinguished  learning,  and  it  is  to  his 
labors  that  we  owe  the  vast  collection  of  excerpts, 
gathered  from  patristic  and  classical  writers,  which 
served  as  a  thesaurus  of  all  knowledge  for  cen- 
turies. Though  his  huge  book  is  of  course  utterly 
without  original  value  and  so  full  of  absurdities 
and  puerilities  that  it  may  be  considered  as  an 
index  of  the  retrogression  in  learning  that  had 
set  in,  it  is  still  true  that  Isidore  was  the  most 
widely  informed  man  of  his  time.  Braulio,  bishop 
of  Saragossa,  by  whose  persistent  entreaty  he  was 
induced  to  write  the  Etymologies,  was  next  to  him 
the  most  learned  man  in  Spain,  and  testifies  that 
Isidore  was  "  distinguished  in  his  knowledge  of  the 
trivium^  and  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  qxiad- 
rivium,"  and  that  God  had  raised  him  up  in  "  these 
last  times  "  to  save  the  world  from  utter  "  rusticity." 
The  liberal  arts  are  briefly  described  in  his  book 
and  their  proper  number  is  expressly  recognized 
as  seven:  " DisciplinoB  liberalium  artium  septem 
sunt"  ^  His  account  of  them  is  copied  bodily  from 
Cassiodorus.  A  century  and  a  half  later  Alcuin 
admiringly  regarded  him  as  the  lumen  Hispanias 

1  The  earliest  instance  I  can  find  of  trivium  as  a  name  for  the 
first  three  liberal  arts.  *  EtymologuB,  1, 2. 


THE  SEVEN  LIBERAL  ARTS  .*/ 

and  as  the  one  cui  nihil  Hispania  darius  hdbuit,^ 
expressions  which  reveal  only  too  plainly  how 
great  must  have  been  the  darkness  in  which  an 
Isidore  could  seem  brilliant. 

Such  is  the  genealogy  of  the  patriarchs  of  the 
liberal  arts,  and  of  these  Boethius,  Cassiodorus  and 
Isidore  became  the  acknowledged  authorities  in 
the  schools,  while  Martianus  Capella,  though  at 
first  unacknowledged,  was  also  influential.  The 
learning  they  handed  over  did  not  attain  to  the 
dignity  of  a  systematic  exhibit  of  the  learning 
of  the  ancients,  but  contained  at  best  a  general 
outline  of  its  school  studies  imperfectly  filled  in 
and  often  faultily  modified.  It  cannot  be  too 
plainly  insisted  on  that  what  they  gave  to  the 
Middle  Ages  was  enclosed  in  a  very  few  books  and 
that  this  scanty  store  constituted  practically  the 
whole  substance  of  instruction  up  to  the  eighth 
century,  not  being  completely  displaced  until  the 
Renaissance.  Isidore  stands  last  in  the  list,  clos- 
ing the  development  of  Christian  school  learning 
in  the  midst  of  a  barbarism  that  was  extinguishing 
not  only  learning  but  civilized  society  in  Western 
Europe.  The  darkness  that  followed  his  time 
for  over  a  century  was  profound  and  almost  uni- 
versal. Eome  itself  had  become  barbarian,  and 
only  in  distant  Britain  and  Ireland  was  the  lamp 
of  learning  kept  lighted,  not  to  shine  again  on  the 
Continent  until  brought  thither  by  the  hand  of 
Alcuin. 

1  Alcuin,  Ep.  115,  p.  477,  Ja£F^. 


CHAPTER  II 

ALCUIN  THE  8CH0LAB  AT  YORK 

A.D.  736-782 

The  darkness  on  the  Continent  during  the  age 
following  Isidore  up  to  the  time  of  Charles  the 
Great  coincides  in  time  with  the  brightest  intel- 
lectual eminence  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church, 
where  learning  found  a  shelter  until  it  returned 
to  Europe  with  Alcuin.  Christianity  had  entered 
Britain  by  many  doors  and  at  many  times,  carry- 
ing with  it  the  precious  treasure  of  the  liberal 
arts.  From  the  great  monastery  at  Lerins,  ofE  the 
Mediterranean  shore  of  Gaul,  St.  Patrick  had 
brought  religion  to  Ireland,  and  other  monks 
following  him  introduced  not  only  the  sacred 
but  also  the  secular  studies  then  flourishing  in 
the  Gallic  schools.  Both  in  the  pagan  schools 
of  the  dying  Empire  and  in  their  Christian  suc- 
cessors in  southern  Gaul  the  study  of  Greek 
lingered,  and  there  was  a  directer  and  wider  ac- 
quaintance with  classical  antiquity  than  elsewhere. 
Aristotle,  Cicero,  Virgil,  Plautus,  Varro,  and  Pronto 
were  known  and  studied,  and  the  dangerous  Mar- 
tianus  Capella  was  the  favorite  handbook  of  the 
liberal  arts.  The  quick  and  speculative  Irish  mind 
28 


ALCUIN  THE  SCHOLAR  AT  YOUK     29 

was  easily  touched  and  responded  to  such  teach- 
ings when  brought  into  contact  with  them,  and 
thus  from  the  start  developed  in  isolation  from  the 
stiffening  and  contracting  influences  which  came  to 
dominate  the  Latin  Church  on  the  Continent  gener- 
ally. This  learning  of  Ireland  passed  in  turn  in  the 
seventh  century  into  Northumbria,  the  Anglo-Saxon 
kingdom  of  North  Britain.  To  the  south,  Gregory 
the  Great  had  sent  the  zealous  monk  Augustine 
in  696  to  evangelize  Britain  from  Canterbury  as  a 
centre.  To  the  same  place  Theodore  of  Tarsus  came 
in  669,  soon  to  become  its  first  archbishop.  This 
strict  and  capable  ecclesiastic  succeeded  in  impress- 
ing on  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church  the  Eoman  disci- 
pline and  organization  to  a  marked  degree.  But 
though  a  determined  promoter  of  papal  influence, 
he  was  yet  a  Greek  by  birth,  and  under  his  auspices 
the  study  of  Greek  was  introduced  in  Canterbury. 
To  the  north  the  great  twin  monastery  of  Wear- 
mouth  and  Yarrow  had  been  founded  and  enriched 
with  books  from  Lerins  and  other  continental  mon- 
asteries, and  even  from  Kome  itself.  Benedict 
Biscop  (628-690),  its  noble  founder,  also  became  its 
abbat.  His  greatest  pupil  was  Bede  (673-735), 
who  at  the  age  of  seven  began  his  education  under 
Benedict  and  continued  it  under  his  successor, 
Coelfrith.  He  there  "enjoyed  advantages  which 
could  not  perhaps  have  been  found  anywhere  else 
in  Europe  at  the  time ;  perfect  access  to  all  the 
existing  sources  of  learning  in  the  West,  Nowhere 
else  could  he  acquire  at  once  the  Irish,  the  Eoman, 


80  ALCUIN 

the  Gallican^  and  the  Canterbury  learning ;  the  accu- 
mulated stores  of  books  which  Benedict  had  bought 
at  Rome  and  at  Vienne ;  or  the  disciplinary  instruc- 
tion drawn  from  the  monasteries  on  the  Continent, 
as  well  as  from  the  Irish  missionaries."  *  All  that 
he  was  capable  of  receiving  from  these  several 
schools  seems  to  have  been  grafted  upon  his  simple 
and  primitive  Anglo-Saxon  nature  and  made  his 
own.  His  pursuit  of  learning  was  ardent  and  unre- 
mitting. Whatever  of  his  time  was  not  taken  up 
in  the  round  of  monastic  duties  he  devoted  to  his 
studies.  "  All  my  life,"  he  writes,  "  I  spent  in  that 
same  monastery,  giving  my  whole  attention  to  medi- 
tating on  the  Scriptures,  and  in  the  intervals  be- 
tween the  observances  of  regular  discipline  and  the 
daily  duty  of  singing  in  the  church,  I  made  it  my 
delight  either  to  be  learning  or  teaching  or  writing." 
But  Bede,  though  receptive,  was  conservative.  Not- 
withstanding his  allegorizing  and  inquiring  habit  of 
mind,  he  is  yet  above  all  marked  by  that  loyalty  and 
ancient  simplicity  of  disposition  which  so  strongly 
characterized  the  true  Anglo-Saxon.  He  could  there- 
fore allegorize  without  being  wildly  erratic,  as  was 
Martianus  Capella,  so  that  he  was  in  no  danger  from 
that  source.  More  than  this,  his  circumspect  regard 
for  the  church  tradition  put  such  a  pagan  writer 
quite  out  of  the  reach  of  his  acceptance.  Conse- 
quently Bede  never  makes  use  of  him,  but  follows 
after  the  feebler  and  safer  Isidore,  who  was  his 

^Dictionary  of  Christian  Biography,  article  on  Bede  by 
Bishop  Stubbg. 


ALCUIN  THE  SCHOLAR  AT  YORK  31 

favorite  authority  for  all  matters  connected  with 
the  liberal  arts.  Even  on  his  death-bed  he  dictated 
to  a  scribe  some  portions  of  Isidore's  writings,  giv- 
ing as  his  reasons  therefor,  "I  will  not  have  my 
pupils  read  a  falsehood  or  labor  without  profit  after 
my  death."  One  of  his  closest  friends  was  Egbert, 
who  became  archbishop  of  York  in  732  and  founded 
there  the  cathedral  school,  enriching  it  with  a  great 
library.  His  rule  of  thirty-four  years  was  of  invalu- 
able service  to  the  cause  of  learning.  iElbert  (Ethel 
bert),  his  scholasticus  or  master  of  the  school,  carried 
out  his  generous  policy  and  afterwards  succeeded 
him  as  archbishop.  In  this  school  they  trained  its 
greatest  pupil,  Alcuin. 

Alcuin  was  descended  from  a  noble  Northumbrian 
family.  The  date  and  place  of  his  birth  are  not 
definitely  known,  but  it  is  very  probable  that  he 
was  born  about  735  in  or  near  York,  where  his  early 
life  was  passed.  While  yet  a  little  child  he  entered 
the  cathedral  school  founded  by  Egbert,  continu- 
ing there  as  a  scholar  and  afterward  as  master 
until  his  departure  for  Frankland.  In  company 
with  the  other  young  nobles  who  composed  the 
school  he  was  first  taught  to  read,  write  and  mem- 
orize the  Latin  Psalms,  then  indoctrinated  in  the 
rudiments  of  grammar  and  other  liberal  arts,  and 
afterwards  in  the  knowledge  of  Holy  Scripture. 
He  has  left  on  record  in  his  poem  On  the  Saints  of 
the  Church  at  York  a  characteristic  description  of 
the  studies  pursued  under  .Albert.   His  verses  read; 


82  ALCUm 

There  the  Euboric  ^  scholars  felt  the  rule 

Of  Master  .Mbert,  teaching  in  the  schooL 

Their  thirsty  hearts  to  gladden  well  he  knew 

With  doctrine's  stream  and  learning's  heavenly  dew« 

To  some  he  made  the  grammar  understood 
And  poured  on  others  rhetoric's  copious  flood. 
The  rules  of  jurisprudence  these  rehearse, 
While  those  recite  in  high  Aonian  verse, 
Or  play  Castalia's  flutes  in  cadence  sweet 
And  mount  Parnassus  on  swift  lyric  feet. 

Anon  the  master  turns  their  gaze  on  high 
To  view  the  travailing  sun  and  moon,  the  sky 
In  order  turning  with  its  planets  seven, 
And  starry  hosts  that  keep  the  law  of  heaven. 

The  storms  at  sea,  the  earthquake's  shock,  the  race 
Of  men  and  beasts  and  flying  fowl  they  trace ; 
Or  to  the  laws  of  numbers  bend  their  mind 
And  search  till  Easter's  annual  day  they  find. 

Then,  last  and  best,  he  opened  up  to  view 
The  depths  of  Holy  Scripture,  Old  and  New. 

Was  any  youth  in  studies  well  approved. 
Then  him  the  master  cherished,  taught  and  loved ; 
And  thus  the  double  knowledge  he  conferred 
Of  liberal  studies  and  the  Holy  Word.* 

Under  the  fanciful  coloring  of  this  sketch,  several 
of  the  liberal  arts  may  be  discerned.  Grammar 
and  rhetoric  are  there  at  the  start.  We  may  also 
pick  out  two  others,  arithmetic,  or  "numbers,"  and 
astronomy.     "Jurisprudence"  means    canon  law. 

1  Alcnin  often  calls  York  the  civitas  Euhorica. 
*De  Sanctis  Eboracensia  EcclesisB,  vv.  1430-14B3. 


ALCUIN  THE  SCHOLAR  AT  YORK     33 

The  "  storms  "  and  "  earthquakes,"  as  well  as  the 
natural  history  of  men  and  beasts,  belong  to  Isi- 
dore's "  geographical "  information.  This  was  com- 
monly included  under  geometry,  as  pertaining  to 
the  description  of  the  earth.  "  Aonian  verse,"  "  Cas- 
talia's  flutes"  and  "Parnassus"  are  poetry  in  the 
sense  of  metrical  exercises,  and  perhaps  included 
some  imitation  of  classical  diction.  Possibly  music 
is  also  faintly  hinted  at  in  "  Castalia's  flutes."  But 
though  two  of  the  liberal  arts,  music  and  geometry, 
are  not  clearly  specified  and  dialectics  is  not  named, 
we  may  be  sure  that  Alcuin's  picture  is  not  intended 
to  present  a  list  but  a  freely  drawn  characterization 
of  the  studies  at  York,  and  it  is  fair  to  assume  that 
the  others  were  at  least  known,  if  not  cultivated. 

A  lively  gratitude  for  the  learning  he  there 
received,  but  above  all  for  the  faithfid  instruction 
in  Christian  virtue  which  Egbert  and  Albert  per- 
sonally instilled,  remained  with  him  to  the  end  of 
life.  Long  after  he  had  gone  to  Frankland  he 
wrote  affectionately  to  the  brethren  of  the  school 
at  York :  "  It  is  ye  who  cherished  the  frail  years 
of  my  infancy  with  a  mother's  affection,  endured 
with  pious  patience  the  wanton  time  of  my  boy- 
hood, conducted  me  by  the  discipline  of  fatherly 
correction  Unto  the  perfect  age  of  manhood  and 
strengthened  me  with  the  instruction  of  sacred 
learning.  What  can  I  say  more,  except  to  implore 
that  the  goodness  of  the  King  eternal  may  reward 
your  good  deeds  to  me,  his  servant,  with  the  glory 
of  eternal  blessedness  ?  "     Alcuin  soon  became  ths 


34  ALCTJIN 

most  eminent  pnpil  of  the  school  and  an  assistant 
master  to  Albert.  On  the  death  of  Egbert  in  766, 
when  Albert  succeeded  to  the  archbishopric,  Alcuin 
in  turn  appears  to  have  succeeded  him  as  master  of 
the  school.  At  any  rate,  he  was  then  ordained  a 
deacon,  or  "levite,"  and  held  the  office  of  scholas- 
ticus  for  some  time  thereafter.  Thus  he  might 
naturally  expect  to  succeed  eventually  to  the  arch- 
bishopric. On  JElbert's  death  in  780  he  was  given 
charge  of  the  cathedral  library,  then  the  most 
famous  in  Britain  and  one  of  the  most  famous  in 
Christendom.  He  has  left  on  record  in  one  of  his 
poems  a  statement  of  the  principal  books  which 
were  there  stored,  —  a  sort  of  metrical  catalogue. 
It  runs  in  English  as  foUows: 

There  shalt  thou  find  the  volumes  that  contain 

All  of  the  ancient  fathers  who  remain  ; 

There  all  the  Latin  writers  make  their  home 

With  those  that  glorious  Greece  transferred  to  Rome,  — 

The  Hebrews  draw  from  their  celestial  stream, 

And  Africa  is  bright  with  learning's  beam. 

Here  shines  what  Jerome,  Ambrose,  Hilary  thought, 
Or  Athanasius  and  Augustine  wrought. 
Orosius,  Leo,  Gregory  the  Great, 
Near  Basil  and  Fulgentius  coruscate. 
Grave  Cassiodorus  and  John  Chrysostom 
Next  Master  Bede  and  learned  Aldhelm  come, 
While  Victorinus  and  Boethius  stand 
With  Pliny  and  Pompeius  close  at  hand. 

Wise  Aristotle  looks  on  TuUy  near. 
Sedolius  and  Juvencus  next  appear. 


ALCUIN  THE   SCHOLAR  AT  YORK  36 

Then  come  Albinus,!  Clement,  Prosper  too, 
Paulinos  and  Arator.    Next  we  view 
Lactantius,  Fortunatus.    Ranged  in  line 
Virgilius  Maro,  Statins,  Lucan,  shine. 
Donatus,  Priscian,  Probus,  Phocas,  start 
The  roll  of  masters  in  grammatic  art. 
Eutychius,  Servius,  Pompey,  each  extend 
The  list.    Comminian  brings  it  to  an  end. 

There  shalt  thou  find,  O  reader,  many  more 
Famed  for  their  style,  the  masters  of  old  lore, 
"Whose  many  volumes  singly  to  rehearse 
Were  far  too  tedious  for  our  present  verse.' 

The  list  of  authors  does  not  of  course  fulfil  the 
large  expectations  roused  by  Alcuin's  glowing 
promise  of  "  all  the  Latin  writers  "  in  addition  to 
"  those  that  glorious  Greece  transferred  to  Kome." 
This  spacious  literary  vista  must  be  narrowed  until 
it  includes  only  the  comparatively  few  Latin  and 
fewer  Greek  writers,  mainly  ecclesiastical  and  only 
in  small  part  classical,  which  were  available  in 
Alcuin's  time.  Yet  single  books  meant  something 
then.  They  were  objects  to  be  treasured  individu- 
ally rather  than  shelved  away  by  thousands.  A 
private  collection  of  an  hundred  was  so  large  as  to 
be  thought  remarkable.  Hence  it  is  easy  to  under- 
stand how  the  books  in  the  York  library,  although 

1  For  the  sake  of  convenience  in  translation  I  have  written 
Albinus,  the  name  of  the  learned  abbat  and  friend  of  Bede, 
instead  of  the  absurd  Alcuinus  of  some  manuscripts  or  tbe 
sensible,  but  metrically  unmanageable  Alcimus  of  Froben'a 
emendation. 

>  Vertw  de  SanctU  Eboracensia  Eccleaise,  w.  1635-1561. 


36  ALCUIN 

probably  to  be  reckoned  by  hundreds  rather  than 
thousands,  embraced  substantially  the  whole  of 
whatever  learning  there  was. 

Alcuin's  list  is  therefore  significant.  Though  the 
restraints  of  metre  hindered  him  from  including 
Isidore,  yet  with  this  exception  the  great  school 
books  of  the  time  are  mentioned,  the  books  which 
were  the  basis  of  his  activity  as  a  teacher,  fijst 
at  York  and  afterwards  in  Frankland.  Besides 
the  unmentioned  Isidore,  whose  writings  were 
thoroughly  familiar  to  him,  he  possesses  Cassio- 
dorus,  Boethius  and  Bede,  of  the  great  medieval 
text-books.  Of  classical  antiquity  he  has  parts  of 
Aristotle  and  Cicero,  the  poets  Virgil,  Statins 
and  Lucan,  and  the  grammarians  Donatus  and 
Priscian,  as  his  chief  authors.  The  fathers  of  the 
Latin  Church  were  also  in  the  library,  and  among 
them  were  books  of  Augustine,  Jerome,  Ambrose 
and  Gregory  the  Great.  The  lesser  authors  who 
fill  in  his  metrical  catalogue  exercise  only  a  slight 
influence  on  his  own  writings.  Whether  any  of 
the  books  in  his  list  were  in  Greek  is  not  a  matter 
of  much  concern  here.  It  is  true  that  Theodore  of 
Tarsus  had  brought  in  the  teaching  of  Greek  at 
Canterbury,  his  influence  subsequently  extending 
to  York,  and  that  the  Irish  influence  was  favorable 
to  Greek  studies,  so  that  there  were  probably  Greek 
books  in  the  York  library.  But  Alcuin,  though  he 
may  have  been  acquainted  with  Greek  sufficiently 
to  read  it  a  little,  confined  his  own  literary  search- 
ings  to  Latin.    Accordingly,  though  Aristotle  and 


ALCUm  THE  SCHOLAR  AT  YORK     37 

some  of  the  Greek  fathers  appear  in  his  catalogue, 
it  is  more  than  likely  that  he  is  thinking  only  of 
Latin  versions.  All  the  Aristotle  he  employs  may 
be  found  either  in  Boethius  or  in  the  treatise 
On  the  Categories  falsely  attributed  to  Augustine. 
His  general  school  learning  reposes  conservatively 
on  the  old  authorities,  Boethius,  Cassiodorus,  Isi- 
dore and  Bede.  Even  Boethius  and  Cassiodorus 
are  more  admired  than  used,  so  that  he  practically 
depends  upon  the  other  two.  If  Martianus  Capella 
was  in  the  York  library,  no  mention  of  the  fact  is 
made. 

Alcuin's  fame  as  master  of  the  school  was  great. 
He  handed  down  to  his  pupils  the  learning  he  had 
received  and  imbued  them  with  that  desire  of  study- 
ing the  liberal  arts  with  which  Egbert  and  .^Elbert 
had  indoctrinated  him.  He  was  well  aware  of  the 
precarious  condition  of  learning  and  impressed  this 
fact  faithfully  upon  his  pupils.  Years  afterward,  in 
a  letter  to  Charles  the  Great,  he  recalled  Egbert's 
fidelity  in  this  respect.  "  My  master  Egbert,"  he 
wrote,  "  often  used  to  say  to  me  '  it  was  the  wisest 
of  men  who  discovered  the  arts,  and  it  would  be  a 
great  disgrace  to  allow  them  to  perish  in  our  day. 
But  many  are  now  so  pusillanimous  as  not  to  care 
about  knowing  the  reasons  of  the  things  the  Creator 
has  made.'  Thou  knowest  weU  how  agreeable  a 
study  is  arithmetic,  how  necessary  it  is  for  under- 
standing the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  how  pleasant  is 
the  knowledge  of  the  heavenly  bodies  and  their 
courses,  and  yet  there  are  few  who  care  to  know 


38  ALCtriN 

such  things,  and  what  is  worse,  those  who  seek  to 
study  them  are  considered  blameworthy."  Such 
was  the  spirit  of  his  teaching  and  such  the  estima- 
tion in  which  he  held  up  learning  to  the  view  of  his 
pupils.  Many  flocked  to  hear  him,  and  he  soon 
became  the  best  known  master  in  Britain,  And  yet 
the  names  of  only  a  few  of  his  pupils  at  York  have 
been  handed  down.  One  of  them  was  Liudger,  who 
came  from  the  Continent  to  hear  him,  subsequently 
returning  and  becoming  the  first  bishop  of  Miinster 
in  Saxony.  If  there  were  other  foreign  pupils,  as  is 
not  improbable,  their  names  are  lost.  The  others, 
whose  names  remain,  were  Anglo-Saxons.  Eminent 
among  them  was  the  younger  Eanbald,  who  became 
archbishop  of  York  in  796.  He  is  the  Symeon  of 
Alcuin's  letters.  Three  others  stand  next  in  promi- 
nence. They  are  Witzo,  Fridugis,  and  Sigulf,  who 
were  so  attached  to  their  master  that  they  followed 
him  from  York  to  Frankland.  Witzo  returned  to 
Britain  in  796,  but  the  other  two  never  came  back. 
Another  was  Osulf ,  apparently  the  "  prodigal  son  " 
over  whom  Alcuin  grieved  so  deeply  in  his  letters. 
He  seems  to  be  known  later  under  the  pseudonym 
Cuculus.  Of  his  other  pupils  we  know  little  beyond 
the  names  of  Onias,  Calwinus,  Eaganhard,  Wald- 
ramn,  and  Joseph. 

The  continuity  of  his  residence  at  York  was 
broken  by  successive  journeys  which  prepared  the 
way  for  his  final  removal  to  the  Continent.  His 
first  journey  was  taken  in  company  with  -Albert 
before  766  into  Frankland,  and  perhaps  included  a 


ALCUm  THE  SCHOLAR  AT  YORK     39 

visit  to  Rome.  The  second  journey  was  somewhat 
later,  but  earlier  than  780.  It  was  probably  on  this 
later  visit  that  Alcuin  stopped  at  Pavia,  where 
Charles  the  Great  was  tarrying  on  his  way  home- 
ward from  Italy.  Alcuin  there  attended  the  public 
disputation  between  Lullus  the  Jew  and  Peter  of 
Pisa,  the  king's  instructor  in  grammar,  and  thus 
came  under  the  monarch's  notice.  His  third  visit 
was  the  one  which  resulted  in  transferring  him 
from  York  to  Frankland.  It  occurred  early  in  781, 
a  few  months  after  the  death  of  -Albert,  whom  the 
elder  Eanbald  succeeded  as  archbishop  of  York 
Alcuin  was  sent  by  Eanbald  to  Rome  to  obtain  from 
the  Pope  the  archbishop's  pallium.  On  this  occasion 
he  met  Charles,  who  was  again  in  Italy,  at  Parma, 
and  was  invited  to  leave  Britain  and  make  his  home 
in  Frankland,  with  a  view  to  establishing  learning 
in  that  kingdom.  Alcuin  hesitated,  but  promised 
to  come  in  case  he  could  obtain  consent  of  his  arch- 
bishop and  of  the  king  of  his  own  country.  He 
secured  their  consent  and  departed  for  the  palace 
of  Charles  at  Aachen  in  782,  thus  finally  giving  up 
his  place  as  master  of  the  school  at  York. 


CHAPTER  in 

ALCUIN  THE  MASTER  OF  THE  PALACE  SCHOOL 
AJ>.  782-796 

Alcuin  arrived  at  the  court  of  Charles,  accom- 
panied by  a  few  of  his  faithful  pupils  from  York, 
and  entered  at  once  upon  his  duties.  Being  at  that 
time  forty-seven  years  of  age,  his  scholarship  and 
character  were  already  developed  and  seasoned. 
His  impending  task  was  not  a  further  develop- 
ment of  the  learning  he  had  received  at  York,  but 
its  introduction  and  diffusion  in  Frankland.  For 
such  a  task  he  was  admirably  equipped,  inasmuch 
as  he  brought  with  him  all  the  prestige  that  came 
from  being  master  of  the  best  school  of  Western 
Christendom,  and  was  additionally  favored  by  the 
fact  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  scholarship  he  repre- 
sented was  of  an  eminently  practical  cast  and 
therefore  suitable  for  schooling  the  minds  of  the 
untutored  Franks.  He  was  also  seven  years  older 
than  Charles,  a  disparity  in  age  sufficient  to  make 
him  acceptable  as  the  king's  learned  adviser  and 
guide,  and  at  the  same  time  not  great  enough  to 
interfere  with  sympathy  and  companionship. 

The  plight  of  learning  in  Frankland  at  this  time 
was  deplorable.  Whatever  traditions  had  found 
40 


THE  MASTER  OP  THE  PALACE  SCHOOL   41 

their  way  from  the  early  Gallic  schools  into  the 
education  of  the  Franks  had  long  since  been  scat- 
tered and  obliterated  in  the  wild  disorders  which 
characterized  the  times  of  the  Merovingian  kings. 
The  monastic  and  cathedral  schools  that  had  for- 
merly flourished  were  then  rudely  broken  up,  the 
monasteries  themselves  being  often  bestowed  as 
residences  on  royal  favorites  and  thus  wholly 
turned  from  a  sacred  to  a  barbarous  use.  The 
copying  of  books  almost  ceased,  and  all  that  can 
be  found  that  pretends  to  the  name  of  literature 
in  this  time  is  the  dull  chronicle  or  ignorantly 
conceived  legend.  There  had  indeed  been  a  so- 
called  palace  school,  a  centre  of  rudimentary 
instruction  for  the  court,  but  even  in  this  studies 
and  letters  played  a  very  inconsiderable  part  as 
one  of  the  incidents  of  court  life.  It  was  not 
possible  that  learning  should  have  at  best  more 
than  a  precarious  toleration,  so  long  as  the  Franks 
remained  unsettled  in  their  social  order.  Exposed 
on  the  south  to  their  Saracenic  foe,  and  on  the  north 
and  east  to  the  stout  Saxons  and  terrible  Avars  or 
Huns,  they  were  consequently  in  danger  of  being 
ground  to  pieces  between  the  two  forces  of  Moham- 
medanism and  heathenism.  But  in  732  Charles 
Martel,  the  grandfather  of  Charles  the  Great,  shat- 
tered forever  the  Moslem  hope  of  a  conquest  of 
Frankland  at  the  battle  of  Tours.  In  771  Charles 
himself,  on  whom  was  to  devolve  the  conquest  of 
the  heathen  Huns  and  Saxons,  became  sole  king  of 
the  Franks.      His  earliest  efforts,  however,  were 


42  ALCUIN 

directed  towards  subduing  the  Lombards  who  had 
given  much  annoyance  to  Pope  Hadrian,  — the  first 
step  in  that  series  of  events  which  ended  in  estab- 
lishing the  spiritual  supremacy  of  the  papacy,  on 
the  one  hand,  alongside  of  and  supported  by  the 
temporal  supremacy  of  the  emperor,  on  the  other. 
From  774  to  780  Charles  was  busy  with  the  old 
Moslem  foe,  still  menacing  his  kingdom,  though 
unable  to  compass  its  destruction,  and  with  the 
more  formidable  Saxons.  He  visited  Italy  in  780, 
when,  as  we  have  seen,  he  invited  Alcuin  to  leave 
Britain.  In  781  he  returned  across  the  Alps  to 
his  kingdom,  and  the  next  year  received  Alcuin 
and  installed  him  as  master  over  the  revived  school 
of  the  palace.  The  next  eight  years  (782-790) 
witnessed  his  continuous  furtherance  of  Alcuin's 
educational  projects,  first  in  the  narrower  circle 
of  the  palace  school  and  then  in  the  advancement 
of  both  higher  studies  and  general  rudimentary 
education  throughout  his  kingdom. 

Let  us  enter  the  school  of  the  palace  at  Aachen. 
Alcuin  sits  as  master  assisted  by  the  obedient  three 
who  had  followed  him  from  York, — Witzo,  Fridugis, 
and  Sigulf.  Charles  himself  is  foremost  in  eager- 
ness among  his  pupils.  Beside  him  is  Liutgard, 
the  queen,  the  last  and  best  beloved  of  his  wives, 
and  not  unworthy  to  be  his  companion  in  study. 
Alcuin  called  her  affectionately  his  "  daughter, '^ 
^^filia  mea  Liutgarda, "  ^  and  his  contemporary  and 
friend,  Theodulf,  the  bishop  of  Orleans,  celebrated 
lEp.63,Jaff^. 


THE  MASTEK  OF  THE  PALACE  SCHOOL  43 

in  verse  her  nobility  of  character.  His  delinea- 
tion is  most  lifelike  and  images  the  gentle  queen 
at  the  court  school,  earnestly  bending  her  mind  to 
Alcuin's  instruction.  "Among  them,"  he  writes, 
"  sits  the  fair  lady  Liutgard,  resplendent  in  mind 
and  pious  in  heart.  Simple  and  noble  alike  con- 
fess her  fair  in  her  accomplishments  and  fairei 
yet  in  her  virtues.  Her  hand  is  generous,  hei 
disposition  gentle  and  her  speech  most  sweet. 
She  is  a  blessing  to  all  and  a  harm  to  none.  Ar- 
dently pursuing  the  best  studies,  she  stores  the 
liberal  arts  in  the  retentive  repository  of  her 
mind."  ^  Gisela,  the  only  one  of  the  four  sisters  of 
Charles  of  whom  we  have  any  full  knowledge,  was 
also  a  pupil,  coming  once  and  again  to  the  school 
from  her  retirement  as  abbess  of  Chelles.  The 
three  princes,  his  sons,  Charles,  Pepin  and  Lewis, 
also  attended,  the  last  of  these  succeeding  his  father 
as  emperor.  Two  of  his  daughters  were  also  pupils, 
the  fair-haired  princess  Kotrud  and  her  gentler  sis- 
ter Gisela.  There  were  also  his  son-in-law,  Angil- 
bert,  and  his  cousins,  the  two  brothers  Adelhard 
and  Wala,  with  their  sister  Gundrada.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  members  of  the  royal  family  there  were 
Einhard,  the  king's  intimate  friend  and  later  his 
biographer,  Eiculf,  who  became  archbishop  of 
Mayence,  Alcuin's  beloved  friend  Arno,  who  was 
later  archbishop  of  Salzburg,  and  the  able  Theo- 
dulf,  afterward  bishop  and  archbishop  of  Orleans. 
After  the  fashion  of  the  time,  Alcuin  bestowed  on 

i  Carmina,  III,  1,  Sinuond's  edition,  p.  181> 


41  ALCUIN 

the  members  of  this  charmed  circle  fanciful  pseu- 
donyms and,  as  was  his  wont,  justified  the  act  by 
Scripture.  Explaining  it  in  a  letter  to  Gundrada, 
whom  he  calls  Eulalia,  he  writes,  "Intimacy  of 
friendship  often  warrants  a  change  of  name,  even 
as  the  Lord  himself  changed  Simon  into  Peter,  and 
called  the  sons  of  Zebedee  the  'sons  of  Thimder,'  a 
practice  approved  not  only  in  ancient  times,  but 
in  our  modern  day."  ^  Alcuin  himself  assumed  the 
name  of  Flaccus,  which  he  prefixed  to  Albinus,  a 
modified  form  of  his  own  name.  Charles  is  usually 
called  David,  after  the  warrior  king  of  Israel,  and 
sometimes  is  styled  Solomon  for  his  wisdom.^ 
Queen  Liutgard  becomes  Ava,  and  his  sister  Gisela 
is  Lucia.  His  son  Pepin  is  Julius,  and  of  his  two 
daughters,  Kotrud  is  Columba,  and  Gisela  is  Delia. 
Angilbert  is  Homer,  Adelhard  is  Antony,  and 
Wala  is  Arsenius.  Einhard,  his  secretary,  is  Beze- 
leel.  Riculf  is  Damoetas.  Arno,  whose  name 
means  an  eagle,  is  appropriately  called  Aquila, 
and  Theodulf,  the  poetic  bishop  of  Orleans,  becomes 
Pindar.  Of  his  pupils  from  York,  Sigulf  is  Vetu- 
lus,  Witzo  is  Candidus  and  Eridugis  is  Nathanael. 
Another  pupil,  Higbod,  is  called  Macharius,  and 
Alcuin' s  fancy  does  not  exhaust  itself  imtil  he  has 
decorated  Audulf,  the  seneschal  of  the  palace,  and 
Magenfrid,  the  king's  chamberlain,  with  the  names 

1  Ep.  125,  Migne. 

*  "  Cernite  Salomonem  nostram  in  diademate  fnlgentem  sapi' 
entise."  De  Animx  Satione,  in  Migne,  Patrologia  Latina,  vol. 
01,619. 


THE  MASTER  OF  THE  PALACE  SCHOOL     tf 

of  Menalcas  and  Thyrsis,  the  two  swains  of 
Virgil. 

It  was  no  easy  task  that  was  set  before  him;  for 
the  court  school  was  not  only  composed  of  untu- 
tored minds,  but  embraced  among  its  pupils  the 
youthful  princes  and  princesses,  and  at  the  same 
time  their  elders,  so  that  it  is  great  proof  of 
Alcuin's  tact  that  he  was  able  to  interest  and  ben- 
efit such  a  heterogeneous  circle.  We  may  be  sure 
that  his  instruction  was  largely  conducted  by  the 
method  of  question  and  answer,  Alcuin  often  pre- 
paring beforehand  questions  and  answers  alike, 
and  that  the  substance  of  it  at  the  start  was  gram- 
mar. And  yet  he  went  beyond  this  in  his  excur- 
sions over  "the  plains  of  arithmetical  art,"  and  in 
astronomy,  rhetoric  and  dialectics,  so  that  the  pal- 
ace school  soon  became  the  one  centre  within  the 
royal  dominions  for  the  prosecution  of  higher  studies. 

The  exigencies  of  his  position  demanded  not 
only  all  his  tact,  but  unflagging  activity.  He  had 
to  be  more  than  a  skilful  teacher  of  docile  pupils, 
for  their  awakened  minds  roved  restlessly  about 
from  one  question  and  puzzle  to  another,  and  with 
these  they  plied  their  master  assiduously,  not  the 
least  persistent  of  his  questioners  being  the  king 
himself.  Charles  wanted  to  know  everything  and 
to  know  it  at  once.  His  strong,  uncurbed  nature 
eagerly  seized  on  learning,  both  as  a  delight  for  him- 
self and  a  means  of  giving  stability  to  his  govern- 
ment, and  so,  while  he  knew  he  must  be  docile,  he 
was  at  the  same  time  imperious.    Alcuin  knew  how 


/' 


46  ALCUm 

to  meet  him,  and  at  need  could  be  either  patiently 
jocular  or  grave  and  reproving.  Thus,  on  one  occa- 
sion when  he  had  been  informed  of  the  great  learning 
of  Augustine  and  Jerome,  he  impatiently  demanded 
of  Alcuin,  "  Why  can  I  not  have  twelve  clerks  such 
as  these?  "  Twelve  Augustines  and  Jeromes !  and  to 
be  made  arise  at  the  king's  bidding!  Alcuin  was 
shocked.  "What!"  he  discreetly  rejoined,  "the 
Lord  of  heaven  and  earth  had  but  two  such,  and 
wouldst  thou  have  twelve?"  But  his  personal 
affection  for  the  king  was  most  unselfish,  and  he 
consequently  took  great  delight  in  stimulating  his 
desire  for  learning.  "0  that  I  could  forever 
sport  with  thee  in  Pierian  verse !  "  he  writes,  "  or 
scan  the  lofty  constellations  of  the  sky,  or  be  study- 
ing the  fair  forms  of  numbers,  or  turn  aside  to  the 
stupendous  sayings  of  the  ancient  fathers,  or  treat 
of  the  sacred  precepts  of  our  eternal  salvation." 
Here  is  mention  of  several  studies  which  they  pur- 
sued together :  poetry,  — which  we  may  here  include 
under  grammar,  —  astronomy,  arithmetic,  the  writ- 
ings of  the  fathers,  and  theology  proper,  and  of 
these  the  king's  favorite  was  astronomy.  He 
studied  everything  Alcuin  set  before  him,  but  had 
special  anxiety  to  learn  all  about  the  moon  that 
was  needed  to  calculate  Easter.  With  such  an  eager 
and  impatient  pupil  as  Charles,  the  other  scholars 
were  soon  inspired  to  beset  Alcuin  with  endless 
puzzling  questions,  and  there  are  not  wanting  evi- 
dences that  some  of  them  were  disposed  to  levity 
and  even  carped  at  his  teachings.      But  he  was 


THE  MASTER  OF  THE  PALACE  SCHOOL   47 

indefatigable,  rising  with  the  sun  to  prepare  for 
teaching.  In  one  of  his  poetical  exercises  he  says 
of  himself  that  "  as  soon  as  the  ruddy  charioteer  of 
the  dawn  suffuses  the  liquid  deep  with  the  new 
light  of  day,  the  old  man  rubs  the  sleep  of  night 
from  his  eyes  and  leaps  at  once  from  his  couch, 
running  straightway  into  the  fields  of  the  ancients 
to  pluck  their  flowers  of  correct  speech  and  scatter 
them  in  sport  before  his  boys."  ^  He  begs  Charles 
to  protect  him  against  their  levity,  yet  not  because 
he  himself  is  weak,  for  he  plainly  says  that  the 
old  boxer  Entellus  is  still  equal  to  overthrowing 
any  youthful  Dares.  ^ 

Books  and  studies  were  not  his  only  care  as  a 
teacher,  for  he  was  not  wanting  in  plain  speech  in 
regard  to  the  lax  morals  of  the  court  and  of  Charles 
himself.  Whatever  he  gave  in  the  way  of  private, 
friendly  admonition  by  word  of  mouth  is  of  course 
lost  to  us,  but  we  have  on  record  in  his  Dialectics 
how  he  reasoned  with  the  king  on  temperance  as 
one  of  the  highest  kingly  virtues,  and  in  the  trea- 
tise dedicated  to  Gundrada  (Eulalia)  on  The  Nature 
of  the  Soul,  his  pointed  admonition,  "  Behold  our 
Solomon,  resplendent  with  the  diadem  of  wisdom. 
Imitate  his  most  noble  traits.  Cherish  his  vir- 
tues, but  avoid  his  vices."  ^  When  it  is  remem-- 
bered  that  Alcuin's  nature  was  peaceable,  even  to 
timorousness,  and  that  Charles  was  a  man  who 

1  Carmina,  CCXXXI,  Migne,  CI,  782. 

2  Carmina,  CCXXX,  Migne,  CI,  782. 
•  Migne,  CI,  619. 


48  ALCUm 

could  be  fierce  to  cruelty,  such  faithful,  plain 
speaking  on  the  part  of  Flaccus  concerning  his 
King  David  seems  no  less  heroic  than  was  the 
conduct  of  Nathan  the  prophet  toward  King  David 
in  Jerusalem.  If,  then,  on  occasion  he  did  not 
spare  the  monarch,  whom  he  both  loved  and  feared, 
we  are  prepared  to  find  the  same  faithful  dealing 
with  his  lesser  pupils.  And  such  was  the  fact. 
Again  and  again  he  exhorts  both  princes  and  prin- 
cesses, by  name,  not  only  to  be  discreet  and  wise, 
but  to  be  chaste ;  and  at  least  on  the  young  prince 
Lewis  his  teachings  were  not  lost,  for  when  he  suc- 
ceeded his  father  as  emperor,  though  he  fell  short  of 
him  in  studies,  he  so  far  exceeded  him  in  holiness 
of  life  that  he  earned  the  title  of  Lewis  the  Pious. 
The  plans  of  Charles,  however,  were  not  restricted 
to  the  palace  school,  important  as  it  was  as  a  cen- 
tre and  example  for  the  learning  he  hoped  to  estab- 
lish. He  did  not  intend  to  rule  a  barbarian  king- 
dom. Therefore  he  aimed  to  civilize  and  estab- 
lish his  people  with  Christian  learning,  and  in  this 
of  course  Alcuin's  counsel  was  indispensable  and 
his  co-operation  enthusiastic.  "  If  only  there  were 
many  who  would  follow  the  illustrious  desire  of 
your  intent,"  he  wrote  to  Charles,  "perchance 
a  new,  nay,  a  more  excellent  Athens  might  be 
founded  in  Frankland;  for  our  Athens,  being  en- 
nobled with  the  mastership  of  Christ  the  Lord, 
would  surpass  all  the  wisdom  of  the  studies  of  the 
Academy.  That  was  instructed  only  in  the  Platonic 
disciplines  and  had  fame  for  its  culture  in  the 


THE  MASTER  OF  THE  PAXACE  SCHOOL  49 

seven  arts,  but  ours  being  enriched  beyond  this 
with  the  sevenfold  plenitude  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
would  excel  all  the  dignity  of  secular  learning."  ^ 

Acting  under  such  impulses,  Charles  issued  in 
787  that  famous  capitulary,  or  proclamation,  which 
is  the  first  general  charter  of  education  for  the 
middle  ages.  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to 
the  abbats  of  the  different  monasteries,  reproving 
their  illiteracy  and  exhorting  them  "  not  only  not 
to  neglect  the  study  of  letters,  but  to  apply  them- 
selves thereto  with  perseverance,"  and  especially 
to  choose  out  for  this  great  work  "men  who  are 
both  able  and  willing  to  learn,  and  also  desirous 
of  instructing  others."  The  capitulary  is  so  im- 
portant that  it  deserves  complete  presentation.  It 
reads  as  follows  in  the  only  copy  that  has  been 
preserved,  the  one  addressed  to  Baugulf,  abbat  of 
the  great  monastery  at  Fulda : 

"Charles,  by  the  grace  of  God,  King  of  the 
Franks  and  of  the  Lombards,  and  Patrician  of  the 
Romans,  to  Baugulf,  abbat,  and  to  his  whole  con- 
gregation and  the  faithful  committed  to  his  charge : 

"  Be  it  known  to  your  devotion,  pleasing  to  God, 
that  in  conjunction  with  our  faithful  we  have  judged 
it  to  be  of  utility  that,  in  the  bishoprics  and  mon- 
asteries committed  by  Christ's  favor  to  our  charge, 
care  should  be  taken  that  there  shall  be  not  only  a 
regular  manner  of  life  and  one  conformable  to  holy 
religion,  but  also  the  study  of  letters,  each  to  teach 
and  learn  them  according  to  his  ability  a«d  the 
l£p.86Migne;  110  Jaff^ 


60  ALCUIN 

divine  assistance.  For  even  as  due  observance  of 
the  rule  of  tlie  house  tends  to  good  morals,  so  zeal 
on  the  part  of  the  teacher  and  the  taught  imparts 
order  and  grace  to  sentences;  and  those  who  seek 
to  please  God  by  living  aright  should  also  not  neg- 
lect to  please  him  by  right  speaking.  It  is  writ- 
ten *  by  thine  own  words  shalt  thou  be  justified  or 
condemned';  and  although  right  doing  be  prefer- 
able to  right  speaking,  yet  must  the  knowledge  of 
what  is  right  precede  right  action.  Every  one, 
therefore,  should  strive  to  understand  what  it  is 
that  he  would  fain  accomplish;  and  this  right 
understanding  will  be  the  sooner  gained  according 
as  the  utterances  of  the  tongue  are  free  from  error. 
And  if  false  speaking  is  to  be  shunned  by  all  men, 
especially  should  it  be  shunned  by  those  who  have 
elected  to  be  the  servants  of  the  truth.  During 
past  years  we  have  often  received  letters  from 
different  monasteries  informing  us  that  at  their 
sacred  services  the  brethren  offered  up  prayers  on 
our  behalf;  and  we  have  observed  that  the  thoughts 
contained  in  these  letters,  though  in  themselves 
most  just,  were  expressed  in  uncouth  language,  and 
while  pious  devotion  dictated  the  sentiments,  the 
unlettered  tongue  was  unable  to  express  them 
aright.  Hence  there  has  arisen  in  our  minds  the 
fear  lest,  if  the  skill  to  write  rightly  were  thus 
lacking,  so  too  would  the  power  of  rightly  compre- 
hending the  Sacred  Scriptures  be  far  less  than  was 
fitting,  and  we  all  know  that  though  verbal  errors 
be  dangerous,  errors  of  the  understanding  are  yet 


THE  MASTER  OF  THE  PALACE  SCHOOL   51 

more  so.  We  exhort  you,  therefore,  not  only  not 
to  neglect  the  study  of  letters,  but  to  apply  your- 
selves thereto  with  perseverance  and  with  that 
humility  which  is  well  pleasing  to  God;  so  that 
you  may  be  able  to  penetrate  with  greater  ease  and 
certainty  the  mysteries  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
For  as  these  contain  images,  tropes,  and  similar 
figures,  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  the  reader 
will  arrive  far  more  readily  at  the  spiritual  sense 
according  as  he  is  the  better  instructed  in  learning. 
Let  there,  therefore,  be  chosen  for  this  work  men 
who  are  both  able  and  willing  to  learn,  and  also 
desirous  of  instructing  others ;  and  let  them  apply 
themselves  to  the  work  with  a  zeal  equalling  the 
earnestness  with  which  we  recommend  it  to  them. 

"  It  is  our  wish  that  you  may  be  what  it  behoves 
the  soldiers  of  the  Church  to  be,  —  religious  in 
heart,  learned  in  discourse,  pure  in  act,  eloquent, 
in  speech;  so  that  all  who  approach  your  house  in 
order  to  invoke  the  Divine  Master  or  to  behold  the 
excellence  of  the  religious  life,  may  be  edified  in 
beholding  you  and  instructed  in  hearing  you  dis- 
course or  chant,  and  may  return  home  rendering 
thanks  to  God  most  High. 

"  Fail  not,  as  thou  regardest  our  favor,  to  send  a 
copy  of  this  letter  to  all  thy  suffragans  and  to  all 
the  monasteries;  and  let  no  monk  go  beyond  his 
monastery  to  administer  justice  or  to  enter  the 
assemblies  and  the  voting-places.     Adieu."  ^ 

1 1  Migne,  Patrologia  Latina,  XCVIII,  895.  I  have  taken  the 
fine  version  of  Mr.  MoUinger  in  his  Schools  of  Charles  the  Greats 
]^f.  97-99. 


52  ALCUIN 

The  voice  is  the  voice  of  Charles,  but  the  hand  is 
the  hand  of  Alcuin.  The  vigorous  and  commanding 
tone  is  the  king's  own,  but  he  could  never  have 
devised  the  argument  and  cast  it  in  the  mould  of 
the  traditions  of  learning  so  perfectly  unless  he  had 
been  assisted  by  his  master,  and  yet  throughout  the 
document  the  influences  of  Charles  and  Alcuin  on 
each  other  are  so  happily  blended  that  the  mind 
and  spirit  that  dominate  it  are  one.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising, then,  that  it  is  the  most  important  state 
paper  of  his  reign  on  the  subject  of  education;  for 
although  its  application  in  practice  was  not  lasting, 
and  no  enduring  restoration  of  education  was 
effected,  yet  this  was  neither  the  fault  of  the  capit- 
ulary nor  of  the  king.  It  was  the  necessary  result 
of  the  insecurely  protected  social  order.  The  bish- 
ops and  abbats  did  respond  in  the  lifetime  of 
Charles  and  for  a  generation  later;  and  while  the 
society  which  he  had  ruled  remained  settled,  so 
long  the  schools  flourished,  going  down  only  in 
the  general  crash  of  the  tenth  century,  when  a  new 
barbarism  overran  Western  Europe.  But  though 
the  schools  founded  under  the  stimulating  influence 
of  his  exertions  had  but  a  short  life,  the  capitulary 
itself  remains  to  show  us  the  great  possibilities  of 
the  ideas  which  in  inchoate  form  lay  in  his  mind. 
First  and  most  noteworthy  is  the  assumption  of  the 
right  of  the  state  in  the  person  of  its  sovereign, 
who  is  still  only  a  king  of  the  Franks  and  not  yet 
head  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  to  compel  a  gen- 
eral attention  to  education,  and  in  particular  to  see 


THE   MASTER  OF  THE   PALACE   SCHOOL      53 

to  it  that  the  Church  should  keep  up  the  study  of 
letters.  A  second  'idea  worthy  of  notice  is  that, 
without  a  due  study  and  teaching  of  secular  sub- 
jects, the  servants  of  the  Church  will  be  unable  to 
fulfil  their  proper  functions  and  will  be  greatly 
hampered  in  understanding  the  Scriptures.  The 
capitulary  does  not  stop  here,  however,  and  insists 
both  on  the  training  of  the  monks  and  priests  in 
learning,  and  moreover  on  the  raising  up  of  a  body 
of  teachers  to  perpetuate  the  great  work  of  educa- 
tion, "  men  who  are  both  able  and  willing  to  learn 
and  also  desirous  of  instructing  others." 

It  is  a  pity  that  so  few  records  of  the  time  remain 
which  cast  light  on  the  actual  effect  of  the  capitu- 
lary. Still  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  was 
generally  obeyed,  and  there  are  not  wanting  evi- 
dences here  and  there  of  the  institution  of  schools 
and  of  further  commands  of  the  king  to  extend  and 
strengthen  learning.  In  the  very  year  in  which 
the  capitulary  was  issued,  Charles,  according  to  one 
of  his  annalists,  "  brought  with  him  from  Rome  into 
Frankland  masters  in  grammar  and  reckoning,  and 
everywhere  ordered  the  expansion  of  the  study  of 
letters;  for  before  our  lord  King  Charles,  there 
had  been  no  study  of  the  liberal  arts  in  Gaul."  ^ 
We  have  also  a  letter  from  the  king  in  788  to  the 
abbat  of  Fulda,''  charging  him  to  see  to  the  schools 
in  that  place.  In  789  a  second  capitulary  was 
issued,  laying  down  more  definite  instructions,  and 

1  Jaffe,  Monumenta  Carolina,  p.  343,  note. 
3  Epistolfs  Carolina,  3,  Jaffd. 


54  ALCUm 

urgently  enjoining  their  observance  on  the  monks.* 
To  this  time,  or  perhaps  earlier,  belongs  the  so- 
called  Homilary  which  Charles  promulgated  in 
order  to  promote  the  correction  of  the  badly  copied 
books  of  Scripture,  containing  the  following  signifi- 
cant passage :  "  As  it  is  our  desire  to  improve  the 
condition  of  the  Church,  we  make  it  our  task  to 
restore  with  the  most  watchful  zeal  the  study  of 
letters,  a  task  almost  forgotten  through  the  neglect 
of  our  ancestors.  We  therefore  enjoin  on  our  sub- 
jects, so  far  as  they  may  be  able,  to  study  the 
liberal  arts,  and  we  set  them  the  example."  " 

Another  capitulary,  issued  from  Aachen  in  789, 
gave  further  aid  to  education  by  insisting  that 
candidates  for  the  priesthood  should  be  taken,  not 
from  the  children  of  the  servile  class,  but  from  the 
sons  of  freemen ;  *  and,  moreover,  as  late  as  the  year 
802,  still  another  capitulary  enjoined  that  "every 
one  should  send  his  son  to  study  letters,  and  that 
the  child  should  remain  at  school  with  all  diligence 
until  he  should  become  well  instructed  in  learn- 
ing."* He  secured  promotion  to  influential  sees 
of  men  who  were  learned  and  full  of  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  education.  Such  were  Paulinus,  the 
patriarch  of  Aquileia;  Leidrad,  the  archbishop  of 
Lyons;  Arno,  archbishop  of  Salzburg;  Riculf, 
archbishop  of  Mayence;  and  Theodulf,  bishop  of 
Orleans.  A  report  of  Leidrad  to  Charles,  concern- 
ing the  schools  established  in  his  diocese,  is  still 

1  Pertz,  Leges,  I,  66.  »  Baluze,  I,  209. 

»  Pertz,  Leges,  1, 44.  *  Pertz,  Leges,  1, 107. 


THE  MASTER  OF  THE  PALACE  SCHOOL  56 

preserved,  from  which  it  is  clear  that  besides  the 
coinmoii  village  schools  there  was  a  cathedral  school 
maintained,  and  that  it  was  in  some  sense  prepara- 
tory to  the  school  of  the  palace.^  Theodulf,  the 
bishop  of  Orleans,  carried  out  in  his  diocese  the 
instructions  of  his  king  most  thoroughly  by  organ- 
izing schools  in  every  parish  for  the  children  of 
all,  enjoining  upon  the  priests  to  exact  no  fees  for 
their  teaching.  His  words  are:  "Let  the  priests 
hold  schools  in  the  towns  and  villages,  and  if 
any  of  the  faithful  wish  to  entrust  their  children 
to  them  for  the  learning  of  letters,  let  them  not 
refuse  to  receive  and  teach  such  children.  More- 
over, let  them  teach  them  from  pure  affection, 
remembering  that  it  is  written,  'the  wise  shall  shine 
as  the  splendor  of  the  firmament,'  and  'they  that 
instruct  many  in  righteousness  shall  shine  as  the 
stars  forever  and  forever.'  And  let  them  exact 
no  price  from  the  children  for  their  teaching,  nor 
receive  anything  from  them,  save  what  their  parents 
may  offer  voluntarily  and  from  affection."  ' 

From  these  and  other  scattered  notices,  we  are 
able  to  form  some  notion  of  the  extent  to  which 

1  De  Scholis  celebrioribus  seu  a  Carolo  Magna  sen  post  eundem 
Carolum  per  Occidentem  instauratis.   Launois,  Opera,  IV,  p.  14. 

2  "  Presbyteri  per  villas  et  vicos  scholas  babeant  et  si  quilibet 
fidelium  suos  parvulos  ad  discendas  literas  eis  commendare  vult, 
eos  suscipere  ac  docere  non  renuant,  sed  cum  somma  caritate 
eos  doceant.  .  .  .  Cum  ergo  eos  decent,  nihil  ab  eis  pretii  pro 
hac  re  exigant,  ezcepto  quod  eis  parentes  caritatis  studio  sua 
voluntate  obtulerint."  Migne,  Patrologia  Latina,  CV,  pp.  191 
and  207. 


66  ALCUm 

the  ideas  of  the  king  were  understood  and  also  of 
the  character  of  the  schools  established.  Uni- 
versal provision  for  elementary  instruction  was 
contemplated  and  to  some  extent  carried  out,  and 
in  Theodulf  we  see  for  the  first  time  the  assertion 
of  the  principle  that  elementary  instruction  should 
be  gratuitous.  Had  it  been  possible  to  follow  this 
up  with  the  next  and  most  natural  step,  namely, 
making  of  the  elementary  instruction  not  only 
universal  and  gratuitous  but  compulsory,  the  con- 
sequences would  of  course  have  been  far  reaching. 
But  though  Charles  finally  went  so  far  as  to  enjoin 
that  "  every  one  should  send  his  son  to  school  to 
study  letters  and  that  the  child  should  remain  at 
school  with  all  diligence  until  he  should  become 
well  instructed  in  learning,"  the  idea  of  organized 
compulsion  does  not  seem  to  have  crossed  his  mind. 
It  was  reserved  for  modern  times. 

In  regard  to  the  character  of  the  schools  them- 
selves, it  should  be  observed  that  they  were  not  all 
of  one  sort.  The  palace  school  was  unique.  It 
was  the  chief  centre  of  culture,  a  very  rudimentary 
learned  academy,  but  yet  the  head  and  centre  of 
the  education  of  the  times.  The  other  schools  may 
be  roughly  divided  into  the  monastic  and  cathedral 
in  one  class  and  the  parish  or  village  schools  in 
the  other.  The  monastic  and  cathedral  schools 
gave  elementary  and,  in  some  instances,  superior 
instruction,  while  the  village  schools  were  purely 
elementary.  The  head  of  a  village  school  was  the 
parish  priest.     The  head  of  a  monastic  school  was 


THE  MASTER  OF  THE  PALACE  SCHOOL  67 

its  abbat,  who  was  responsible  to  the  head  of  his 
order  and  thus  to  Rome.  The  head  of  a  cathedral 
school  was  the  scholasticus  appointed  by  the  bishop 
of  the  diocese,  who  in  his  turn  was  also  answerable 
to  Rome.  But  the  abbats  of  the  monasteries  did 
not  acknowledge  jurisdiction  on  the  part  of  the 
bishops  over  them,  and  this  led  to  frequent  conflicts 
whenever  the  bishop  attempted  to  exercise  such 
jurisdiction.  In  fact,  Alcuin  himself  was  in  this 
way  brought  into  unfriendly  relations  with  his  own 
friend,  Theodulf,  the  bishop  of  Orleans,  at  the  time 
when  Alcuin  was  abbat  of  St.  Martin  in  that  dio- 
cese. The  monastic  schools  came  to  be  divided 
into  two  sides,  the  interior  and  the  exterior  school. 
The  interior  school  received  only  the  dblati,  that  is, 
boys  who  were  offered  for  the  monastic  life.  The 
exterior  schools  were  attended  by  boys  who  were 
not  to  be  monks,  but  priests,  and  by  those  who  were 
intended  for  secular  life.  In  both  the  interior 
and  exterior  schools  instruction  was  gratuitous. 
The  episcopal  or  cathedral  schools  were  neither  so 
strict  nor  so  flourishing  as  the  monastic  schools, 
whose  exterior  side  they  resembled,  educating  can- 
didates for  the  priesthood  and  children  of  laymen 
generally.  The  scholars  were  partly  maintained 
by  the  endowments  of  the  school  and,  in  the  case 
of  the  laity,  to  some  extent  by  the  payment  of 
tuition.  Apart  from  the  rigorous  discipline  of 
monastic  life  exacted  of  the  oblati,  there  is,  how- 
ever, no  essential  distinction  to  be  drawn  between  the 
instruction  furnished  in  the  monasteries  and  cathe* 


58  ALCUIN 

drals.  It  began  with  learning  to  read  and  write, 
the  computus,  or  art  of  reckoning,  the  principal  use 
of  which  was  to  determine  the  church  calendar,  and 
also  the  art  of  singing.  Above  this  rudimentary 
teaching  came  the  study  of  grammar,  to  which  great 
pains  was  devoted,  sometimes  followed  by  rhetoric 
and  dialectics,  with  little  or  nothing  beyond,  except 
in  the  greatest  monasteries.  Of  course  there  was 
also  the  study  of  Holy  Scripture.  In  the  village 
schools  nothing  but  the  rudiments  were  taught, 
except  such  scholastically  unimportant  additions  as 
the  learning  of  the  creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and 
perhaps  parts  of  the  Psalter. 

Three  stages  or  levels  of  advancement  are  thus 
discernible  in  the  education  incompletely  organized 
by  Charles  and  Alcuin.  At  the  head  of  their 
hierarchy  of  schools  stands  the  palace  school  or, 
to  strain  the  expression  severely,  the  university. 
Underneath  this  and  preparatory  to  it  is  the  second- 
ary teaching  of  certain  monastery  and  cathedral 
schools,  while  primary  education  is  also  found  in 
monasteries  and  cathedrals  and  is  the  exclusive 
substance  of  instruction  in  the  village  schools. 

In  790,  after  eight  years  of  unsparing  labor  in 
the  conduct  of  the  palace  school  and  the  further- 
ance of  the  king's  wider  educational  projects,  Alcuin 
returned  to  York.  Witzo,  and  then  Fridugis,  tem- 
porarily took  his  place  in  the  palace  school.  He 
had  never  abjured  his  allegiance  to  the  king  of  his 
native  Northumbria  nor  his  obedience  to  the  arch- 
bishop of  York,  regarding  himself  as  only  a  so- 


THE  MASTER  OF  THE  PALACE  SCHOOL  69 

journer  at  the  court  of  Charles.  It  was  therefore 
natural,  when  the  palace  school  had  become  well 
established,  and  the  king's  commands  for  founding 
other  schools  had  been  measurably  carried  out,  that 
Alcuin  should  regard  his  task  among  the  Franks 
as  accomplished.  The  limitations  under  which  he 
labored  at  the  court  must  also  have  become  plain; 
for  with  all  the  lively  interest  in  learning  that  was 
awakened,  there  were  no  such  stable  guarantees 
for  its  perpetuation  visible  in  the  disposition  or 
intelligence  of  the  raw  Franks  as  could  be  com- 
pared with  the  well-settled  and  vigorous  tradition 
of  learning  in  Northumbria,  —  the  only  steady  light 
that  had  broken  the  general  darkness  for  now 
nearly  a  century.  The  publicity  of  a  court  and  the 
journeying  to  and  fro,  whenever  Charles  moved 
from  Aachen,  were  far  less  congenial  to  him  than 
monastic  seclusion,  and  where  could  he  so  naturally 
turn  for  this  as  to  his  old  home  in  York?  There 
was  the  peaceful  round  of  ecclesiastical  life,  there 
was  the  great  store  of  books,  which  he  had  sadly 
missed  at  the  court,  there  were  his  brethren  and 
some  of  his  old  pupils  in  the  home  of  his  youth, 
and  there  accordingly  was  the  true  retreat  for  his 
declining  years. 

A  dissension  had  sprung  up  shortly  before  this 
time  between  Charles  and  Offa,  king  of  Mercia, 
then  the  most  powerful  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  rulers. 
Charles,  consenting  to  Alcuin's  visit  to  Britain,  gave 
him  letters  to  Offa  and  enabled  him  to  act  as  an  in- 
termediary in  effecting  a  reconciliation.    Arrived  at 


60  ALCUm 

York,  Alcuin  found  that  Ethelred,  in  one  of  those 
sudden  mutations  to  which  the  affairs  of  the  petty 
kings  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  were  so  liable,  had 
become  king  of  Northumbria.  His  cruelties  and 
excesses  were  shocking  and  went  far  to  discourage 
the  hope  of  peaceful  retirement  with  which  Alcuin 
had  returned  home.  Successfully  concluding  his 
peace-making  negotiations  with  Offa,  Alcuin  found 
himself  not  indisposed  to  obey  the  summons  which 
came  from  Charles  to  return  to  his  court,  where 
there  was  new  and  urgent  need  for  his  services. 
Accordingly  he  left  York  for  Aachen  in  792.  Two 
heresies  had  sprung  up  which  threatened  not  only 
the  ecclesiastical  unity  of  Latin  Christendom,  but 
the  peace  of  Frankland  as  well.  One  was  the  teach- 
ing of  two  Spanish  bishops,  Felix  of  Urgel  and 
Elipandus  of  Toledo,  that  Christ  was  not  the  Son  of 
God  in  the  sense  of  being  so  by  generation,  except  as 
to  his  Godhead,  while  as  to  his  manhood  he  was 
not  begotten  but  adopted.  This  effort  to  solve  the 
mystery  attaching  to  the  two  natures  in  the  person 
of  Christ  was  known  as  Adoptionism.  Against  this 
heresy  Alcuin  vindicated  the  old  Church  doctrine  by 
several  treatises,  finally  securing  its  condemnation 
in  794  by  the  Council  of  Frankfort.  It  is  a  note- 
worthy fact  that  nowhere  in  his  writings  is  there 
any  call  upon  the  king  to  use  his  civil  power  to 
crush  the  heresy.  Nor  does  Charles  seem  to  have 
thought  of  doing  so.  It  was  well  that  he  did  not, 
whether  his  forbearance  was  due  to  a  sense  of 
justice,   fondness  for  theological  controversy,  or 


THE  MASTER  OF  THE  PALACE  SCHOOL  «! 

political  expediency.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  all  these  motives  were  influential.  Had  the 
king  resorted  to  civil  punishment  instead  of  re- 
sorting to  the  more  peaceful  but  equally  potent 
resource  of  ecclesiastical  condemnation,  the  politi- 
cal danger  was  that  the  Spanish  heretics,  who  were 
numerous  and  obstinate,  would  join  themselves  to 
his  old  Saracen  foes  in  Spain  and  thus  embolden 
them  to  harass  his  kingdom. 
.i(0  The  other  heretical  foe  was  also  political  in  its  alli- 
ances. Irene,  the  ruler  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  had 
done  much  to  re-establish  the  worship  of  images, 
and  succeeded  in  carrying  through  her  designs  by 
the  aid  of  a  dubiously  constituted  general  council 
held  at  Nice  in  787.  At  this  council  Pope  Hadrian 
was  not  recognized  as  in  any  way  the  head  of  the 
Church,  and  consequently  not  only  was  the  primacy 
of  Rome  ignored,  but  the  independence  and  unity 
of  the  Western  Church  was  thereby  imperilled. 
Hadrian's  dilemma  was  painful.  He  was  not 
ready  to  put  the  ban  of  the  Church  on  image-wor- 
ship in  moderation,  but  felt  bound  to  resist  this 
Eastern  encroachment  on  his  papal  dignity.  If  he 
acquiesced  in  the  validity  of  the  council's  restora- 
tion of  image-worship,  he  thereby  submitted  to  the 
political  tyranny  of  Irene  and  Constantinople.  If 
he  threw  himself  tipon  the  sovereigns  of  the  West 
to  support  his  independence,  he  must  break  with 
the  East  and  perhaps  consent  to  condemn  image- 
worship,  which  the  papacy  had  countenanced. 
There  was  but  one  king  able  to  aid  him,  and  that 


62  ALCUIN 

king  was  Charles.  So  in  792,  after  long  conceal- 
ment and  avoidance,  Hadrian  sent  him  the  decrees 
of  Nice.  Charles  of  course  could  not  endure  that 
the  Pope  should  be  in  vassalage  to  his  political 
rival  of  the  East,  and  was  moreover  an  abominator 
of  image-worship.  Whatever  languid  eastern  Chris- 
tians might  do,  the  independent  Franks  would  never 
prostrate  themselves  in  abasement  before  the  effigies 
of  saints.  He  sent  Alcuin  the  Nicene  enactments, 
urging  him  to  refute  them,  and  Alcuin  devoted  him- 
self assiduously  to  his  task.  It  is  in  every  way 
probable  that  the  so-called  Caroline  Books,  which 
appeared  at  this  time  as  a  work  of  Charles,  refut- 
ing the  Nicene  errors  and  exposing  the  idolatrous 
character  of  image-worship,  are  really  the  work  of 
Alcuin.*  The  Council  of  Frankfort,  which  Alcuin 
attended  by  the  king's  request,  not  only  dealt  with 
the  Adoptionist  heresy,  but  also  proceeded  to  con- 
demn the  practice  of  image-worship  and  to  reject 
the  authority  of  Nice,  and  as  the  result  of  this 
council  the  two  great  theologico-political  spectres 
of  the  time  of  Charles  were  laid. 

Meanwhile  Alcuin's  thoughts  were  being  weaned 
away  from  the  idea  of  a  return  to  his  own  land  by 
the  incursions  of  the  Norsemen  on  its  coasts,  and 
especially  by  the  horrible  devastation  of  Lindis- 
fame.  His  longing  for  retirement  grew  stronger 
and  stronger  and,  after  he  had  passed  his  sixtieth 
year,  became  irrepressible.  He  earnestly  begged 
Charles  to  let  him  go  to  Fulda  and  there  end  his 

1  Monumenta  Alcuiniana,  p.  220,  note. 


THE  MASTER  OF  THE  PALACE  SCHOOL     63 

days  in  peace.  But  Charles  would  not  subject  him 
to  the  rule  of  even  the  abbat  of  Fulda,  and  as  the 
abbat  of  the  venerable  house  of  St.  Martin  at  Tours 
died  at  that  time  (796),  he  appointed  Alcuin  in  his 
stead. 


CHAPTEB  IV 
ALCUIN  THE  ABBAT  OP  TOUBS 

A.D.  796-804 

The  monastery  of  St.  Martin  at  Tours,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Loire,  was  one  of  the  oldest  and  rich- 
est in  Frankland.  Adjoining  the  church  wherein 
the  relics  of  St.  Martin  himself  were  enshrined, 
honored  by  gifts  of  the  Prankish  kings  and  hallowed 
by  the  devout  visits  of  many  a  band  of  pilgrims,  it 
was  easily  the  first  abbey  within  the  dominions  of 
Charles,  not  yet  rivalled  even  by  Fulda.  Its  rich 
endowments,  consisting  of  landed  estates  scattered 
in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom  and  tilled  by  thou- 
sands of  serfs,  yielded  great  revenues  toward  its 
support,  so  that  when  Charles  appointed  Alcuin  to 
be  its  abbat,  he  conferred  the  highest  monastic  bene- 
fice within  his  gift,  disregarding  precedent  in  his 
zeal  to  do  honor  to  his  old  teacher,  who  had  no  reason 
to  expect  such  elevation,  Alcuin  not  being  a  monk, 
but  a  simple  deacon  of  the  church  at  York.  Yet 
he  was  a  monk  in  spirit,  "  a  true  monk  without  the 
monk's  vow,"  as  his  biographer  admiringly  writes, 
and  Alcuin  may  have  had  such  relations  to  monastic 
life  at  York  as  to  make  his  selection  at  least  eccle- 
siastically unobjectionable.  The  monks  at  Tours 
64 


ALCUm  THE  ABBAT  OF  TOtJES  66 

had  been  living  with  less  strictness  than  their  vows 
required,  and  it  was  therefore  Alcuin's  first  care  to 
subject  them  to  the  rigorous  rule  of  the  Benedictine 
order.  This  was  not  accomplished  without  a  strong 
effort,  and  the  importation  of  brethren  from  other 
monasteries  to  assist  in  reviving  the  strictness  he  so 
desired  to  see  practised.  But  Alcuin's  efforts  were 
not  limited  to  a  simple  revival  of  the  monastic  life. 
His  house  was  to  be  a  centre  not  only  of  austerity, 
but  of  learning.  His  provident  mind  perceived 
clearly  that  if  the  learning  which  had  been  estab- 
lished with  such  pains  in  Northumbria  was  already 
in  danger  of  destruction,  and  if,  moreover,  the 
learning  he  himself  had  brought  thence  into  Frank- 
land  would  lose  a  powerful  protector  after  Charles 
should  be  gone,  the  best  service  which  he  could 
render  by  way  of  forestalling  the  uncertain  outlook 
was  to  raise  up  by  his  own  personal  teaching,  in 
the  few  years  that  remained  to  him,  a  body  of 
pupils  so  devoted  to  learning  and  so  considerable 
in  number,  that  there  might  be  good  hope  of  pass- 
ing on  the  tradition  of  studies  through  their  hands. 
It  was  thus  that  learning  had  been  saved  before  by 
being  literally  handed  down  from  one  teacher  to  the 
next,  from  Benedict  Biscop  to  Bede,  from  Bede  to 
Egbert,  and  from  Egbert  to  Alcuin,  so  that  in  the 
eyes  of  such  a  respecter  of  traditional  methods  as 
Alcuin  was,  it  might  well  seem  the  only  way  of  dis- 
charging his  duty  in  his  turn. 

Accordingly  he  set  about  his  work  with  the  same 
industry  and  zeal  that  had  marked  his  earlier  teach* 


66  ALCUIN 

ing,  though  in  a  soberer  and  at  times  a  severer 
spirit.  Soon  after  his  installation  at  Tours,  he 
wrote  to  Charles  a  letter  which  furnishes  glimpses 
of  the  beginning  of  his  work.  "I,  your  riaccus," 
he  writes,^  "following  out  your  exhortation  and 
desire,  strive  to  minister  to  some  in  the  house  of 
St.  Martin  the  honeys  of  Holy  Scripture.  Others 
I  seek  to  inebriate  with  the  old  wine  of  the  ancient 
disciplines,  and  still  others  will  I  begin  to  nourish 
with  the  apples  of  grammatical  subtlety.  Again, 
I  endeavor  to  irradiate  the  minds  of  others  with  the 
order  of  the  stars,  even  as  a  painter  would  illumi- 
nate by  his  figures  the  dome  of  a  church,'  being 
made  all  things  to  all  men  so  that  I  may  instruct 
many  for  the  advantage  of  the  holy  Church  of  God 
and  for  the  honor  of  your  kingdom,  that  the  grace 
of  Almighty  God  may  not  be  found  vain  in  me, 
nor  the  generosity  of  your  kindness  of  none  effect." 
There  is  something  of  the  glow  of  his  earlier  years 
in  this  allegorical  description.  He  is  once  more  at 
his  old  work,  teaching  the  Scriptures,  teaching  the 
"  ancient  disciplines  "  or  liberal  arts,  starting  be- 
ginners in  grammar,  and  instructing  others  more 
advanced  in  the  king's  favorite  study,  astronomy. 
The  studies  which  he  had  begun  to  cultivate  at 
York,  and  introduced  at  the  palace,  he  now  trans- 
plants finally  to  the  abbey  at  Tours. 

1  Ep.  78  Jaffe ;  43  Migne. 

s  The  clause  translated  "  even  as  a  painter  would  illuminate 
by  his  figures  the  dome  of  a  church,"  is  obscure  in  the  text  of 
Alcuin's  letter.    I  give  what  seems  to  be  the  meaning. 


ALCUIN  THE  ABBAT  OF  TOURS  67 

But  his  activity  was  straitened  at  first  by  the 
lack  of  books,  and  of  this  he  informs  the  king, 
asking  leave  to  send  some  of  the  younger  monks  to 
York  to  obtain  them.  "I,  your  servant,"  he  con- 
tinues, "  lack  the  rarer  books  of  scholastic  erudition 
which  I  had  in  my  own  country  through  the  devoted 
industry  of  my  master  -lElbert,  and  by  my  own 
labors.  And  so  I  mention  this  to  your  excellency, 
in  the  hope  it  may  please  the  wisdom  of  your 
counsel  that  I  should  send  some  of  the  youth  here 
to  bring  to  us  the  necessary  books,  and  thus  fetch 
into  Frankland  the  flowers  of  Britain,  so  that  besides 
the  'garden  inclosed'  that  is  now  in  the  Euboric 
city,  there  may  likewise  be  in  the  Turonic  city 
'orchards  of  pomegranates  with  pleasant  fruits, '  and 
thus  shall  'the  south  wind  come  and  blow  upon  our 
gardens'  along  the  river  Loire  'that  the  spices 
thereof  may  flow  out.'  Thus  indeed  shall  be  ful- 
filled that  which  follows  in  the  Book  of  Canticles,* 
whence  I  have  taken  this  parable:  'My  beloved 
shall  come  into  his  garden  and  eat  his  pleasant 
fruits,'  and  say  to  the  youth:  'Eat,  0  friends! 
yea,  drink  and  be  drunken,  O  beloved ! '  More- 
over the  word  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  exhorting  to 
the  study  of  wisdom  shall  also  be  fulfilled:  'Ho 
every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters,  and 
ye  who  have  no  money,  come  ye,  buy  and  eat. 
Yea,  come,  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money  and 
without  any  price.'  "  What  books  Alcuin  received 
from  York  as  the  result  of  this  request  we  do  not 

1  Solomon's  Song  iv,  12, 13, 16,  and  y,  1. 


68  ALCUIN 

know,  except  that  they  were  of  course  such  books 
as  he  himself  had  access  to  when  there.  Isidore 
and  Bede  would  naturally  be  sent  for  among  the 
books  on  the  liberal  arts,  and  in  fact  we  have 
knowledge  of  the  copying  of  the  works  of  Bede 
under  Alcuin's  supervision  at  Tours.  There  were 
undoubtedly  many  volumes  of  the  fathers,  which 
Alcuin  felt  necessary  to  have  brought  from  Britain ; 
for  when  he  wrote  elaborately  some  years  before 
against  the  Adoptionist  heresy  and  image-worship, 
he  had  to  resort  to  the  library  at  York  to  obtain  his 
numerous  quotations  from  the  patristic  writings. 
It  is  also  worth  noticing  that  the  spirit  in  which  he 
proposed  to  teach  at  Tours  had  the  same  liberality 
of  intention  which  had  characterized  the  capitulary 
of  his  friend  and  helper,  Theodulf,  enjoining  upon 
the  priests  of  his  diocese  to  teach  without  exacting 
tuition  fees.  Such  is  the  meaning  of  Alcuin's  quo- 
tation from  Isaiah :  "  Ye  who  have  no  money,  come, 
buy  and  eat,  yea,  come,  buy  wine  and  milk  without 
money  and  without  any  price."  The  thought  of 
exacting  pay  for  teaching  was  not  in  Alcuin's 
mind,  and  the  fact  that  the  teaching  was  gratuitous, 
while  the  value  of  what  was  taught  was  inestima- 
ble, seemed  to  him  one  of  the  strongest  incentives 
to  study  on  the  part  of  his  pupils.  It  is  interesting 
to  note,  in  this  connection,  some  verses  ascribed  to 
him,  and  set  up  at  a  fork  in  the  street  of  Salzburg 
where  the  way  led  in  one  direction  to  a  tavern  and 
in  the  other  to  a  school.  They  read,  "  O  traveler, 
hastening  through  the  street!  halt  on  thy  way  and 


ALCUIN  THE  ABBAT  OF  TOURS      69 

read  these  versicles  studiously.  The  one  side  will 
lead  him  who  desires  drink  to  a  tavern,  but  the 
other  is  blest  with  a  double  advantage.  Then 
choose,  O  traveler,  which  way  thou  wilt!  either 
to  go  and  drink,  or  to  go  and  learn  from  holy 
books.  If  thou  wilt  drink,  thou  must  also  pay 
money,  but  if  thou  wilt  learn,  thou  shalt  have  what 
thou  seekest  for  nothing."  ^ 

Let  us  return  to  his  letter  to  Charles.  Nothing, 
he  says,  is  a  loftier  attainment  or  a  pleasanter  exer- 
cise, a  stronger  defence  against  vice,  or  more  praise- 
worthy in  every  way,  than  studies  and  learning,  to 
which  we  are  exhorted  in  every  page  of  Scripture. 
Nothing,  he  reminds  the  king,  is  so  excellent  for 
the  young  princes  in  the  palace,  now  in  the  flower 
of  youth,  as  to  pursue  their  studies,  for  it  is  these 
which  will  bring  them  honor  in  their  old  age  and 
finally  qualify  them  for  eternal  blessedness.  "Ac- 
cording to  the  measure  of  my  small  ability,"  he 
impressively  continues,  "  I  shall  not  be  slothful  in 
sowing  the  seeds  of  wisdom  among  your  servants  in 
these  regions,  being  mindful  of  the  saying:  *In  the 
morning  sow  thy  seed  and  in  the  evening  withhold 
not  thine  hand,  for  thou  knowest  not  whether  shall 
prosper,  either  this  or  that,  or  whether  they  both 
shall  be  alike  good. '  In  the  morning  I  sowed  the 
seed  in  Britain  in  the  flourishing  studies  of  youth, 
and  now,  as  my  blood  is  growing  chill  at  evening, 
I  cease  not  to  sow  the  seed  in  Frankland,  praying 
that  both  alike  may  prosper  by  the  grace  of  God." 

1  Migne,  Vol.  CI,  757,  Carm.  CXIX. 


70  ALCUIN 

The  evening  is  sensibly  approaching,  and  Alcuin 
grows  more  and  more  conscious  of  the  shortness  of 
the  time  at  his  command.  His  purpose,  however, 
is  only  the  more  resolute,  his  desire  the  more  ear- 
nest, that  the  good  work  he  had  begun  in  Britain  and 
continued  in  Frankland  may  prosper.  And  so  he 
sets  himself  busily  to  the  consummation  of  his 
work,  and  the  abbey  at  Tours  at  once  becomes  the 
best  school  in  Frankland. 

In  addition  to  the  strict  enforcement  of  monastic 
discipline  and  the  instruction  given  in  the  school 
both  to  candidates  for  the  religious  life  and  to  the 
laity,  Alcuin  was  occupied  in  supervising  the 
copying  of  manuscripts  in  the  scriptorium,  and 
the  books  that  were  made  became  models  for 
copyists  thereafter.  His  careful  particularity  in 
regard  to  punctuation  and  orthography,  and  his 
employment  of  a  clearer  and  neater  form  of  letter, 
are  to  be  seen  to-day  as  the  distinguishing  features 
of  the  body  of  classical  and  patristic  manuscripts 
dating  from  the  ninth  century  and  written  in  what 
are  called  the  Caroline  minuscules.  Of  course,  the 
books  which  issued  from  Tours  are  in  no  way  to 
be  compared  with  the  stately  uncial  manuscripts 
of  the  late  Roman  Empire,  but  they  are  a  vast 
improvement,  both  in  appearance  and  accuracy, 
over  the  slovenly  transcripts  made  in  the  time  of 
the  Merovingian  kings.  Alcuin  himself  had  served 
as  a  copyist  at  York,  and  his  treatise  On  Orthography 
was  in  all  probability  the  reference-book  of  the 
scribes  as  they  worked  under  his  supervision  at 


ALCUm  THE  ABBAT  OF  TOURS      71 

Tours.  There  are  not  wanting  indications  in  his 
writings  of  the  scrupulous  regard  he  paid  to  these 
matters,  and  of  the  discouraging  ignorance  on  the 
part  of  scribes,  which  he  had  to  overcome.  In  a 
letter  written  to  Charles  from  Tours,  in  799,  he  men- 
tions the  fact  that  he  had  copied  out  on  some  blank 
parchment,  which  the  king  had  sent  him,  a  short  trea- 
tise on  correct  diction  with  illustrations  and  exam- 
ples from  Bede,  and  another  containing  "certain 
figures  of  arithmetical  subtlety  composed  for  amuse- 
ment," and  then  adds  apologetically:  "Although 
the  distinctions  and  sub-distinctions  of  punctuation 
give  a  fairer  aspect  to  written  sentences,  yet  from 
the  rusticity  of  scribes  their  employment  has  almost 
disappeared.  But  even  as  the  glory  of  all  learning 
and  the  ornaments  of  wholesome  erudition  begin  to 
be  seen  again,  by  reason  of  your  noble  exertions, 
so  also  it  seems  most  fitting  that  the  use  of  punctu- 
ation should  also  be  resumed  by  scribes.  Accord- 
ingly, although  I  accomplish  but  little,  I  contend 
daily  with  the  rusticity  of  Tours.  Let  your  author- 
ity so  instruct  the  youths  at  the  palace  that  they 
may  be  able  to  utter  with  perfect  elegance  whatso- 
ever the  clear  eloquence  of  your  thought  may  dic- 
tate, so  that  wheresoever  the  parchment  bearing 
the  royal  name  shall  go,  it  may  display  the  excel- 
lence of  the  royal  learning."  ^  A  very  delicate  hint 
to  Charles  to  mind  his  commas  and  colons,  and  to 
see  that  the  princes  at  Aachen  did  the  same,  as 
well  as  a  lament  for  the  general  disregard  of  the 

1  £p.  101  Migne;  112JafEd 


72  ALCDIN 

accuracies  and  niceties  of  writing.  Alcnin's  in- 
junctions to  the  scribes  at  Tours  were  repeated 
more  than  once  and  found  expression  in  some  of 
his  verses  which  seem  to  have  been  affixed  to  the 
entrance  of  the  scriptorium  as  a  permanent  warn- 
ing. They  run  as  follows :  ^  "  Here  let  the  scribes  sit 
who  copy  out  the  words  of  the  Divine  Law,  and 
likewise  the  hallowed  sayings  of  holy  fathers.  Let 
them  beware  of  interspersing  their  own  frivolities 
in  the  words  they  copy,  nor  let  a  trifler's  hand 
make  mistakes  through  haste.  Let. them  earnestly 
seek  out  for  themselves  correctly  written  books  to 
transcribe,  that  the  flying  pen  may  speed  along  the 
right  path.  Let  them  distinguish  the  proper  sense 
by  colons  and  commas,  and  set  the  points,  each  one 
in  its  due  place,  and  let  not  him  who  reads  the 
words  to  them  either  read  falsely  or  pause  sud- 
denly. It  is  a  noble  work  to  write  out  holy  books, 
nor  shall  the  scribe  fail  of  his  due  reward.  Writ- 
ing books  is  better  than  planting  vines,  for  he  who 
plants  a  vine  serves  his  belly,  but  he  who  writes 
a  book  serves  his  soul." 

We  can  almost  reconstruct  the  scene.  In  the 
intervals  between  the  hours  of  prayer  and  the 
observance  of  the  round  of  cloister  life,  come  hours 
for  the  copying  of  books  under  the  presiding  direc- 
tion of  Alcuin.  The  young  monks  file  into  the 
scriptorium,  and  one  of  them  is  given  the  precious 
parchment  volume  containing  a  work  of  Bede  or 
Isidore  or  Augustine,  or  else  some  portion  of  the 

1  Migne.  CI,  745,  Carm.  LXVn. 


ALCUIN  THE  ABBAT  OF  TOURS      73 

Latin  Scriptures,  or  even  a  heathen  author.  He 
reads  slowly  and  clearly  at  a  measured  rate  while 
all  the  others  seated  at  their  desks  take  down  his 
words,  and  thus  perhaps  a  score  of  copies  are  made 
at  once.  Alcuin's  observant  eye  watches  each  in 
turn  and  his  correcting  hand  points  out  the  mistakes 
in  orthography  and  punctuation.  The  master  of 
Charles  the  Great,  in  that  true  humility  that  is  the 
charm  of  his  whole  behavior,  makes  himself  the  writ- 
ing-master of  his  monks,  stooping  to  the  drudgery  of 
faithfully  and  gently  correcting  their  many  puerile 
mistakes,  and  all  for  the  love  of  studies  and  the 
love  of  Christ.  Under  such  guidance  and  deeply 
impressed  by  the  fact  that  in  the  copying  of  a  few 
books  they  were  saving  learning  and  knowledge 
from  perishing,  and  thereby  offering  a  service  most 
acceptable  to  God,  the  copying  in  the  scriptorium 
went  on  in  sobriety  from  day  to  day.  Thus  were 
produced  those  improved  copies  of  books  which 
mark  the  beginning  of  a  new  age  in  the  conserving 
and  transmission  of  learning.  Alcuin's  anxiety  in 
this  regard  was  not  undue,  for  the  few  monasteries 
where  books  could  be  accurately  transcribed  were 
as  necessary  for  publication  in  that  time  as  are 
the  great  publishing  houses  to-day. 

One  other  phase  of  Alcuin's  educational  activity 
remains  to  be  noticed.  It  is  his  literary  intercourse 
with  kings  and  ecclesiastics  of  influence,  touching 
the  state  of  learning.  Five-sixths  of  his  corre- 
spondence, if  we  may  judge  by  the  three  hundred 
letters  now  extant,  belongs  to  the  eight  years  which 


74  ALCUIN 

elapsed  between  his  coming  to  Tours  and  his  death, 
and  the  fulness  of  information  and  reminiscence 
therein  preserved  is  of  the  first  historical  value  for 
the  latter  half  of  the  eighth  century.  From  this 
rich  miscellany  it  is  possible  to  gather  enough  infor- 
mation to  warrant  a  judgment  as  to  the  fortunes  of 
learning  both  in  Britain  and  Frankland,  with  the 
added  advantage  of  getting  many  a  personal  glimpse 
of  the  leading  actors  in  the  educational  movement 
wherein  Alcuin  was  the  central  figure. 

Some  of  the  letters  deal  with  Britain,  for  the  old 
man's  thoughts  turned  thither  again  and  again. 
His  first  love  was  his  native  land,  and  his  home 
allegiance  was  never  renounced.  "Never  have  I 
been  unfaithful  to  the  people  of  Britain,"  he  once 
wrote  from  the  palace  of  Charles  to  an  Anglo-Saxon 
presbyter.^  And  with  even  more  devotion  he  wrote 
in  the  same  spirit  to  his  brethren  of  York  shortly 
before  he  went  to  Tours.  "  My  fathers  and  breth- 
ren, dearer  than  all  else  in  the  world,  pray  do  not 
forget  me ;  for,  alike  in  life  and  death,  I  shall  ever 
be  yours.  And  peradventure  God  in  mercy  may 
grant  that  you,  who  nursed  my  infancy,  may  bury 
me  in  old  age.  But  if  some  other  place  shall  be 
appointed  for  my  body,  yet  I  believe  that  my  soul 
will  be  granted  repose  among  you,  through  your 
holy  intercession  in  prayer.'"* 

It  was  perhaps  one  of  his  first  letters  from  Tours 
that  was  sent  to  King  Offa  in  response  to  a  request 

1  Ep.  15  Jaffe ;  8  Migne. 
>Ep.  34Jaffe;  6  Migne. 


ALCUIN  THE  ABBAT  OF  TOURS      76 

that  Alcuin  should  send  one  of  his  pupils  into 
Britain  to  teach.  Alcuin  complied  with  Offa's 
desire,  complimenting  him  on  his  great  zeal  for 
study, — "a  zeal  so  great,"  he  writes,  "that  the 
light  of  learning,  though  extinguished  in  many- 
places,  now  shines  in  your  dominions."^  To  the 
same  year  (796)  belongs  his  congratulatory  letter 
to  his  former  pupil,  the  younger  Eanbald,  on  his 
elevation  to  the  archbishopric  of  York.  Alcuin 
gratefully  dwells  on  the  fact  that  it  was  he  who 
had  been  privileged  to  train  such  a  pupil  among 
his  "  sons  "  at  York.  "  Praise  and  glory  be  to  the 
Lord  God  Almighty ! "  he  fervently  exclaims,  "  that 
I,  the  last  of  the  servants  of  the  Church,  was  spared 
to  instruct  among  my  sons  one  who  should  be  held 
worthy  to  become  a  steward  of  the  mysteries  of 
Christ,  laboring  in  my  place  in  the  Church  wherein 
I  was  nursed  and  instructed,  and  presiding  over 
the  treasures  of  learning  to  which  my  beloved 
master.  Archbishop  Albert,  left  me  his  heir."* 
Then,  after  general  counsels,  Alcuin  enjoins  on  his 
pupil,  now  archbishop  of  the  see  to  which  he  him- 
self would  in  all  probability  have  been  elevated 
had  he  remained  in  England,  the  duty  of  keep- 
ing up  the  school.  He  also  tells  Eanbaid  how 
to  conduct  it.  "Provide  masters  both  for  your 
boys  and  for  the  grown-up  clerks.  Separate  into 
classes  those  who  are  to  study  in  books,  those  who 
are  to  practise  the  church  music,  and  those  who 

1  Ep.  43  Jaffe;  49  Migne. 
*  Ep.  72  Ja£C€ ;  66  Migne. 


76  ALCUIN 

are  to  engage  in  transcribing.  Have  a  separate 
master  for  every  class,  that  the  boys  may  not  run 
about  in  idleness  or  occupy  themselves  in  silly  play 
(inanes  ludos),  or  be  given  over  to  other  follies. 
Consider  these  things  most  carefully,  my  dearest 
son,  to  the  end  that  the  fountain  of  all  wholesome 
erudition  may  still  be  found  flowing  in  the  chief 
city  of  our  nation."^  It  is  a  strict  school  that 
Alcuin  wishes  kept.  All  the  play  and  diversion 
for  the  boys  was  to  be  found  in  their  lessons,  and 
it  is  evidently  Alcuin 's  old  practice  as  scholasticus 
at  York  that  is  urged  upon  Eanbald.  Yet  his 
austerity  is  not  morose,  and  it  is  noteworthy  that 
there  is  neither  in  this  letter  nor  in  any  of  his 
writings  a  recommendation  to  use  flogging  or  any 
of  the  other  punishments  which  finally  became  an 
essential  part  of  medieval  school  discipline.  But 
for  all  that,  the  idea  of  play  was  vanity.  Still  one 
can  scarcely  help  thinking  that  some  concession 
must  have  been  made  by  Alcuin  to  the  restless  and 
sportive  nature  of  boys  in  his  own  playful  method 
of  teaching,  which  verged  again  and  again  on 
jocoseness  and  pleasant  banter.  Another  and  quite 
different  point  worth  noticing  is  that  the  principle 
of  employing  a  separate  master  for  each  subject  and 
of  dividing  the  pupils  into  appropriate  classes  was 
practised  both  at  York  and  Tours,  —  though  at  the 
palace  school  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  such 
organization  was  or  could  have  been  effected. 
There  were  other  letters   sent  to  Britain.     In 

lEp.  72Jaff€;  66  Migne. 


ALCUm  THE  ABBAT  OF  TOURS      77 

one  lie  exhorts  ^Edilbert,  a  bishop  in  Northumbria, 
to  "  instruct  the  youth  diligently  in  the  knowledge 
of  books,"  to  keep  alive  "the  light  of  knowledge" 
in  his  diocese,  and  to  bear  in  mind  that  "  for  every 
one  who  would  understand  what  to  shun  and  what 
to  pursue,  the  study  of  holy  books  is  a  necessity."  * 
In  797  he  writes  to  the  church  and  people  of 
Canterbury,  then  distracted  by  civil  and  ecclesias- 
tical dissensions,  urging  them  to  remember  their 
former  renown  as  a  house  not  only  of  religion  but 
of  "the  glory  of  philosophic  study"  as  well.*  It 
was  apparently  from  Tours  also  that  he  wrote  a 
general  letter  of  exhortation  to  the  monks  of  Ire- 
land, in  which  he  bears  notable  testimony  to  the 
Irish  learning,  with  which,  of  course,  he  was  out 
of  sympathy  so  far  as  it  encouraged  speculative 
tendencies  or  departed  from  the  Koman  tradition. ' 
He  recalls  how  in  earlier  times  many  learned 
masters  had  come  from  Ireland  into  Britain  and 
Gaul,  and  even  into  Italy,  to  the  great  advantage 
of  the  Church.  But  now  the  times  are  perilous, 
and  therefore  it  behoves  them  to  teach  and  learn  the 
truth  the  more  zealously,  for  many  false  teachers 
(jpseudodoctores)  have  arisen,  introducing  new  and 
unheard-of  opinions,  and  bent  on  getting  glory  for 
themselves  by  their  novel  teachings.  "  Therefore, 
most  holy  fathers,  exhort  your  youth  to  learn  the 
traditions  of  the  catholic  doctors."      "However," 

1  Ep.  88  Jaffe ;  178  Migne.     The  date  of  this  letter  is  uncei^ 
tain  and  may  be  earlier  than  Alcuin's  removal  to  Tours. 
3£p.86Jaff^;  71  Migne. 


78  ALCUIN 

he  pointedly  remarks,  "  the  study  of  secular  letters 
is  not  to  be  set  aside.  Let  grammar  stand  as  the 
fundamental  study  for  the  tender  years  of  infancy 
and  the  other  disciplines  of  philosophical  subtlety 
be  regarded  as  the  several  ascents  of  learning  by 
which  scholars  may  mount  to  the  very  summit  of 
evangelical  perfection.  Thus  with  their  increase 
of  years  there  shall  come  an  increase  of  the  riches 
of  wisdom."^ 

His  correspondence  in  Frankland  was  meanwhile 
assiduously  kept  up,  and  in  this  way  he  was  able  to 
watch  from  Tours  the  course  of  affairs  throughout 
the  kingdom.  The  interests  of  the  palace  school 
engaged  his  attention,  though  he  had  ceased  to 
be  its  master,  and  the  condition  of  education  in 
general  likewise  continued  to  be  a  matter  of  con- 
stant concern,  though  Theodulf  had  virtually  taken 
his  place  as  soon  as  he  removed  to  Tours. 

His  congratulations  to  Theodulf  as  the  new  min- 
ister of  education,  or  "father  of  the  vineyards,"  as 
A-lcuin  fancifully  styles  him,  are  embodied  in  what 
is  probably  the  most  variegated  piece  of  allegorical 
scriptural  patchwork  he  ever  composed.  It  defies 
adequate  reproduction  in  English,  unless  accom- 
panied with  a  separate  note  of  explanation  for 
almost  every  line.  However,  it  is  a  letter  of  such 
distinct  importance  as  to  need  presentation  at  least 
in  part;  for  its  playful  vagaries  contain  not  only 
Alcuin's  congratulations,  but  his  injunctions  to 
Theodulf  to  promote  the  study  of  the  old  seven 

1  Ep.  217  Jaff^;  225  Migne. 


ALCUIN  THE  ABBAT  OF  TOUBS      79 

liberal  arts  without  any  admixture  of  new  notions. 
The  "  vineyards  "  of  the  letter  are  the  educational 
interests  of  the  kingdom.  The  "  wine  cellars  "  are 
the  stores  of  learning  in  general,  and  the  "old 
wine  "  or  the  "  good  wine  which  has  been  kept  until 
now  "  is  the  excellent  wine  of  the  liberal  arts,  "  kept 
until  now"  to  be  broached  in  the  age  of  Charles. 
This  is  the  true  feast  of  both  bread  and  wine  to 
which  Wisdom  or  Sapientia  invites  her  followers 
in  the  ninth  chapter  of  Proverbs,  as  Alcuin  explains 
in  another  letter,  "  the  true  wine  which  she  mingles 
for  those  that  are  bidden  to  her  table  which  is  spread 
in  the  house  she  hath  builded  on  seven  pillars."  ^ 

With  this  preface  we  are  prepared  for  a  simplified 
version  of  part  of  Alcuin's  letter  to  Theodulf.  It 
opens  as  follows : 

"  Albinus  wisheth  health  to  Theodulf,  the  great 
prelate  and  father  of  the  vineyards. 

"  We  read  in  the  Book  of  Chronicles  that  in  the 
time  of  David,  the  king  after  God's  own  heart, 
Zabdi  was  set  'over  the  king's  wine-cellars.'  ^  Now, 
by  the  mercy  of  God,  a  second  David  is  the  ruler 
of  a  better  people,  and  under  him  a  nobler  Zabdi  is 
set  over  the  cellars ;  for  the  king  hath  set  his  love 
upon  him  and  'brought  him  into  the  wine-cellars,' ' 
that  the  scholars  may  there  wreathe  him  with 
flowers  and  'comfort  him  with  the  flagons '  *  of 
that  'wine  which  maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man.'* 

lEp.  292Jaffe;   185  Migne.  *  Solomon's  Song  ii  6. 

2  I  Chronicles  xxvii  27.  ^  Psalm  civ  15. 

s  Solomon's  Song  ii  4. 


80  ALCUm 

"  So  then,  even  if  there  be  lacking  'bread  which 
strengtheneth  man's  heart, '  ^  yet  there  is  not  lack- 
ing in  the  cellars  of  Orleans  the  wine  which  maketh 
glad,  for  our  hope  is  in  the  fruitful  vine,  and  not 
in  any  withered  fig-tree.'  Wherefore  I,  the  new 
Jonathan,  'counsellor  of  our  David  and  his  man  of 
letters, ' '  send  this  letter  unto  Zabdi,  saying :  Let 
us  arise  early  and  see  how  fairly  the  vine  flourishes 
in  'the  valley  of  Sorek';*  let  us  'tread  out  the 
wine-press  with  shouting, '  *  that  the  streams  of  the 
wine-cellar  may  be  dispersed  abroad. "  " 

Thus  this  fanciful  commingling  of  serious  and 
playful  exhortation  in  regard  to  Theodulf's  duties 
to  the  "vineyards"  and  "wine-presses"  of  learn- 
ing proceeds,  changing  for  a  moment  at  the  close 
of  the  letter  into  apparent  remonstrance,  "Say 
not,  *I  cannot  rise,  and  give  thee,"  for  even  if 
thou  hast  not  'three  loaves  '  *  of  bread  to  lend,  yet 
by  the  blessing  of  Christ  there  at  hand  are  'the 
seven  waterpots  ' '  full  of  the  'good  wine  which  has 
been  kept  until  now, '  "  and  kept,  as  all  know,  to  be 
mingled  by  'the  ruler  of  the  feast '  ^^  who  dwells  in 
Tours.  Therefore  let  the  old  wine  still  be  kept,  in 
order  that  no  one  may  put  'new  wine  into  the  old 

1  Psalm  civ  15.  •  Luke  xi  5. 

s  Matthew  xxi  19.  »  John  ii  6-7.    Alcuin  mxist 

'  I  Chronicles  xivii  32.  This  have  his '  seven  waterpots '  for 
is  Jonathan,  the  uncle  of  David,     the  liberal  arts,  though  there 

*  Judges  ivi  4.  are  only  six  in  Scripture. 

*  Jeremiah  xlviii  33.  i"  John  ii  10. 
6  Proverbs  v  16.  u  John  ii  9. 

^  Luke  xi  7 


ALCUIN  THE  ABBAT  OF  TOURS      81 

bottles,'^  for  'no  man  having  drank  old  wine 
straightway  desireth  new;  for  lie  saith:  The  old 
is  better. ' ' 

"  Happy  is  he  that  speaketh  to  one  that  hath  ears 
to  hear.     Farewell,  my  dearest  brother."* 

This  is  no  ordinary  letter ;  for  it  is  as  far  removed 
from  the  simplicity  of  style  which  often  shows 
itself  in  Alcuin's  writing  as  from  the  labored 
manner  of  his  more  learned  discourses.  It  is 
a  conscious  attempt  at  an  artificial  manner  of 
letter-writing,  sometimes  affected  by  scholars  in 
that  age,  and  is  intended  to  gather  together  and 
display  such  allegorical  hints  of  Scripture  as  might 
bear  in  favor  of  promoting  the  liberal  arts;  and 
what  could  be  more  convincing  as  argument  than 
allegory?  We  may  be  sure  that  Theodulf  had 
"ears  to  hear"  and  to  heed  its  teachings;  for  the 
" paraphrastical "  and  "paradigmatic"  epistolary 
touches  *  in  which  it  abounds,  and  which  were  so 
dear  to  Alcuin,  would  be  fully  understood  by 
Theodulf,  who  might  well  regard  them  as  highly 
complimentary  to  his  powers  of  literary  apprecia- 
tion. The  exhortation  to  prefer  the  "old  wine," 
which  Alcuin  had  mingled  as  "  ruler  of  the  feast," 
to  any  "new  wine"  that  might  be  offered,  was 
unnecessary  in  one  respect,  for  TheoduK  showed 
himself  a  vigorous  supporter  of  the  teachings  of 
his  master.  Yet  the  caution  was  timely ;  for  new 
teachers  were  appearing  at  the  palace  of  Charles, 

1  Luke  V  37.  «  Ep.  153  Jaffe;  148  Migne. 

«  Luke  V  39.  *  Ep.  177  Jafif  € ;  191  Migne. 


82  ALCUIN 

introducing  strange  notions,  which  were  incompat- 
ible with  the  teachings  of  Alcuin.  These  were 
certain  Irish  scholars  who  inculcated,  among  other 
things,  a  mode  of  calculating  Easter  different  from 
the  tradition  of  Kome,  and  akin  to  that  followed  in 
the  eastern  Church.  At  first  sight  this  seems  too 
slight  a  matter  to  arouse  comment,  but  the  calcula- 
tion of  Easter  was  one  of  the  questions  upon  which 
the  East  and  West  were  hopelessly  divided.  Though 
not  a  capital  question  in  itself,  it  was  one  of  great 
strategic  importance  as  a  test  of  ecclesiastical  loy- 
alty. It  had  a  similar  importance  in  relation  to  the 
tradition  of  learning  as  delivered  by  Cassiodorus, 
Isidore,  and  Bede,  —  all  faithful  Latins ;  for  with 
their  doctrine  of  Easter  the  Irish  scholars  coupled 
other  teachings,  and  no  doubt  brought  with  them 
the  odious  book  of  Martianus  Capella,  —  and  who 
knows  what  Greek  books  they  may  not  likewise 
have  brought  with  them?  It  is  the  irrepressible 
conflict  of  tradition  with  speculation  that  is  setting 
in.  Alcuin  wrote  again  and  again  to  Charles,  argu- 
ing for  the  Roman  method  of  calculating  Easter 
and  lamenting  that  such  dark  "Egyptian"  teach- 
ings should  have  drifted  in  to  blind  the  youth  at 
the  palace.  Theodulf  also  wrote  a  satirical  poem, 
setting  forth  the  utter  perverseness  and  worth- 
lessness  of  the  self-confident  '^ Scotellus,"  or  Irish 
scholar.  Charles,  however,  viewed  the  situation 
more  cheerfully  and  sought  to  draw  Alcuin  into 
debate  with  the  Scotelli,  perhaps  hoping  for  no 
small  enjoyment  from  witnessing  the  contest.     But 


ALCUm  THE  ABBAT  OF  TOURS      83 

Alcuin  preferred  to  stay  at  Tours.  He  was  in  no 
mood  to  be  humiliated  at  the  palace  in  his  old  age, 
and  so  he  informs  the  king  that  "  the  aged  Entellus 
has  long  since  laid  aside  the  cestus,  and  left  it  for 
others  who  are  younger."^  "Of  what  avail,"  he 
exclaims,  "  would  be  the  feebleness  of  your  Flaccus 
amid  the  clash  of  arms?  What  can  the  timid  hare 
do  against  the  wild  boars,  or  the  lamb  among  the 
lions?""  Still  he  does  not  conceal  his  annoyance 
or  his  surprise  that  such  foolish  teachings  should 
have  been  given  any  audience.  As  for  himself,  he 
says,  "These  silly  little  questions  beset  my  ears 
like  the  insects  that  swarm  at  the  windows  in 
summer,"'  and  therefore  he  expresses  great  sur- 
prise that  Charles  should  have  listened  to  them,  and 
exhorts  him  to  summon  to  his  side  able  defenders 
of  the  faith,  lest  this  latest  heresy  spread  to  the 
distraction  of  the  Church  and  his  own  kingdom.* 

Next  after  Charles,  his  chief  correspondent  was 
his  beloved  friend  Arno,  archbishop  of  Salzburg, 
whom  he  did  not  fail  to  advise  as  to  the  care  of  all 
the  parishes  in  his  diocese,  insisting  that  there 
should  be  a  general  establishment  of  primary 
schools,  wherein  the  elements  should  be  faithfully 
taught.*  In  one  letter,  he  ventures  out  of  his  depth 
into  metaphysics,  and  attempts  to  explain  to  Arno 
the  distinction   between  the  terms   "substance," 

1  Ep.  98,  p.  408  Jaffe ;  82  Migne. 
«  Ep.  98,  p.  412  Jaffe ;  82  Migne. 
«Ep,  96,  p.  398Jaff^;  80  Migne. 
«  Ep.  99,  p.  420  Jaffe ;  83  Migne. 
•  Ep.  91  JaS^ ;  94  Migne. 


84  ALCUm 

"essence,"  "subsistence,"  and  "nature."  But  he 
was  not  a  philosopher,  and  his  observations  on 
"essence"  are  enough  to  establish  this  fact. 
"Essence,"  he  says,  "is  properly  spoken  of  with 
reference  to  God,  he  who  always  is  what  he  is, 
and  who  said  unto  Moses,  *I  am  that  I  am.'  Now, 
God  alone  truly  is,  inasmuch  as  he  is  unchange- 
able; for  of  whatsoever  is  changeable  we  cannot 
say  that  it  truly  is  in  every  respect,  because  it  can 
become  what  it  is  not,  and  hence  not  be  what  it 
is."^  In  still  another  letter  he  justifies  to  Arno 
the  reading  of  the  classical  poets,  quoting  Jerome 
to  support  him.  After  citing  Jerome's  saying, 
"Even  the  gold  which  is  found  on  the  dunghill 
is  to  be  prized  and  to  be  deposited  in  the  Lord's 
treasury,"  he  adds  by  way  of  comment:  "It  was 
the  blessed  apostle  Paul  himself  who  found  the 
gold  of  wisdom  in  the  dung  of  the  poets,  and 
transferred  it  to  the  treasury  of  ecclesiastical  learn- 
ing, and  so  have  all  the  holy  doctors  done,  who  were 
instructed  after  his  example."'^  It  seems  strange 
after  such  a  letter  to  find  Alcuin's  attitude  so  ascetic 
in  his  last  years  towards  the  poet  Virgil.'  In  his  boy- 
hood he  loved  to  read  Virgil  more  than  he  did  the 
Latin  Psalms,  and  his  own  poetry,  both  in  respect  to 
metre  and  diction,  is  largely  drawn  from  the  same 
source.  Yet  he  afterwards  told  his  pupils  that  the 
poetry  of  the  Bible  was  sufficient  for  them,  and 

1  Ep.  209  Jaff^ ;  161  Migne. 
«  Ep.  147  Jaffe ;  117  Migne. 
*  Monumenta  Alcuiniana,  p.  6. 


ALCUIN  THE  ABBAT  OF  TOURS      85 

that  they  should  run  no  risks  from  the  effeminating 
verses  of  Virgil.  Once  Sigulf  had  ventured  to  read 
his  Virgil  secretly,  contrary  to  Alcuin's  injunction, 
and  when  Alcuin  discovered  it  he  overwhelmed 
him  with  the  alarming  question,  "  How  now !  Vir- 
gilian!  Why  is  it  that  against  my  advice,  and 
apart  from  my  knowledge,  you  have  desired  to  read 
Virgil?  "  Sigulf  cast  himself  at  Alcuin's  feet  in 
abject  penitence.  His  master  reproved  him  aus- 
terely, but  finally  forgave  him,  adding  his  caution 
never  to  do  so  any  more.^  Even  Eigbod,  though 
archbishop  of  Treves,  did  not  escape  his  reproof. 
"Has  the  love  of  Virgil,"  he  complains,  "taken 
away  all  remembrance  of  me?  Oh!  that  my  name 
were  Virgil !  Then  indeed  should  I  be  ever  before 
your  eyes,  and  you  would  ponder  my  words  with 
deep  regard.  But  Flaccus  is  gone,  and  Virgil  has 
come.  Oh!  that  the  four  Gospels  and  not  the 
twelve  iEneads  might  fill  your  thoughts ! " "  As 
for  himself,  when  he  sends  to  Rigbod  for  books,  he 
begs  for  very  different  reading;  namely,  a  Homily 
of  St.  Leo  and  a  treatise  of  the  Venerable  Bede  on 
the  Book  of  Tobias.' 

Alcuin's  seclusion  at  Tours  was  broken  by  a  visit 
from  Charles.  In  the  spring  of  800*  the  king  had 
tarried  some  days  at  the  monastery,  in  company 

1  Monumenta  Alcuiniana,  pp.  24, 25. 

2Ep.  216  JafEe;  169  Migne.  Alcuin's  "Aeneods"  for 
"Aeneids"  is  only  too  characteristic  of  the  decadent  state  of 
Latin  in  his  time. 

»  Ep.  197  Jaffe';  171  Migne. 

*  Ep.  133,  Note  1,  Jaffe';  103  Migne. 


86  ALCUIN 

with  his  Queen  Liutgard,  whose  health  was  rapidly 
failing.  She  died  there  early  in  June  of  the  same 
year  and  was  buried  in  the  adjoining  church. 
Charles  himself  returned  in  the  same  month  to 
Aachen  by  way  of  Orleans  and  Paris,  accompanied 
by  Alcuin/  who  left  his  monastic  retreat  for  a 
short  time  in  order  to  hold  a  public  dispute  with 
Felix  of  Urgel  regarding  the  Adoptionist  heresy. 
In  this  discussion  Felix  acknowledged  himself 
completely  vanquished  by  Alcuin's  arguments. 

As  the  autumn  approached,  Charles  prepared  to 
go  to  Rome.  Alcuin  had  been  invited  to  make  the 
journey  with  him.  But  the  infirmities  of  age, 
which  were  daily  growing  upon  him,  coupled  with 
his  instinctive  aversion  to  participating  in  political 
affairs,  except  as  a  peacemaker,  kept  him  at  Tours. 
Charles  went  to  Rome,  and  on  Christmas  day  was 
crowned  Emperor  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  by 
Pope  Leo,  thus  establishing  the  foundations  of 
social  order  for  the  middle  ages.  There  is  abun- 
dant evidence  for  supposing  that  Charles  suspected 
the  Pope's  intentions,  though  not  apprised  of  the 
time  or  occasion  when  they  were  to  be  carried  into 
effect.  It  is  also  quite  evident  that  Alcuin  was 
aware  of  the  significance  of  this  journey  to  Rome, 
and  perhaps  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  he  had 
secretly  advised  it,  and  by  his  correspondence  with 
Rome  was  influential  in  bringing  about  the  corona- 
tion. When  Charles  returned  from  Rome  to  Aachen 
as  Emperor,  Alcuin  made  it  his  first  care  to  send 

1  Ep.  147,  p.  658,  Note  1,  JafE€;  117  Migne. 


ALCUm  THE  ABBAT  OF  TOURS      87 

to  him  by  a  messenger  a  superbly  written  copy  of 
the  Gospels,  made  at  the  monastery  in  Tours,  as 
the  worthiest  contribution  he  could  offer  to  the 
"splendor  of  the  imperial  power."  * 

As  Alcuin's  end  drew  near,  he  set  in  order  all 
his  affairs,  naming  his  pupil  Fridugis  as  his  suc- 
cessor at  Tours.  A  year  or  more  before  his 
death  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Charles,  bidding  him 
farewell,  invoking  manifold  blessings  upon  him 
for  all  his  goodness,  and  reminding  him  of  the 
supreme  importance  of  preparation  for  death  and 
the  day  of  judgment.'*  Other  letters  written  about 
the  same  time  show  how  wholly  his  mind  was 
engrossed  with  the  thought  of  his  coming  depart- 
ure. The  opening  of  the  year  804  found  him 
greatly  weakened  in  health.  A  fever  soon  set 
in,  under  which  his  remaining  strength  gradually 
ebbed  away.  It  was  his  desire  that  he  might 
linger  until  the  day  of  Pentecost  should  come. 
And  so  it  happened;  for  Alcuin  died  at  dawn  of 
that  May  morning,'  just  after  matins  had  been 
sung. 

He  was  carried  to  his  burial  in  the  church  of  St. 
Martin,  near  the  monastery,  with  every  manifesta- 
tion of  reverence  and  affection.  It  was  a  fitting 
place  for  his  repose.  Notwithstanding  his  cher- 
ished hope  that  it  might  be  his  lot  to  die  and 
be  buried  at  York,  his  works  which  followed  him 

1  Ep.  205  Jaffe;  131  Migne. 
3  Ep.  193  Jaff^ ;  134  Migne. 
«  May  19,  80*. 


88  ALCUm 

were  chiefly  his  labors  in  Frankland,  and  in  Frank- 
land  Tours  was  the  scene  of  his  last,  and  in  some 
ways  his  greatest  service.  It  was  also  a  spot  where 
other  appropriate  memories  clustered.  There  St. 
Martin  had  come  as  a  founder  of  monasticism  among 
the  Gauls.  There  Charles  Martel  had  delivered  the 
Frank  from  the  Moslem.  Thither  Charles  the  Great 
had  journeyed  to  take  counsel  with  Alcuin  before 
he  went  to  Rome,  to  return  as  monarch  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire.  There  his  best  beloved  queen, 
Liutgard,  the  devoted  friend  of  Alcuin,  had  died 
and  was  buried;  and  there,  too,  if  the  tradition 
be  true,  Alcuin  pointed  out  to  Charles  the  young 
prince  Lewis  as  his  successor. 

And  yet,  when  the  news  of  his  death  was  borne  to 
distant  York,  and  the  brethren  there  were  chanting 
prayers  for  his  repose,  they  might  easily  believe 
his  longing  desire  that  his  soul  might  rest  among 
them,  wherever  his  body  lay,  was  then  being  ful- 
filled. 


CHAPTER  V 
T^E  EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  OF  ALCUm 

Alcuin's  writings  have  been  preserved  to  us  in 
tolerable  completeness,  and  may  be  classified  under 
a  fourfold  division.  First  come  his  theological 
works,  which  embrace  the  greater  part,  perhaps 
two-thirds,  of  all  that  he  wrote.  This  theological 
portion  may  in  turn  be  divided  into  four  parts, 
exegetical,  dogmatic,  liturgical  and  practical,  and 
lives  of  the  saints.  Of  the  remaining  third  of  his 
writings,  the  major  part  is  embraced  in  his  epistles, 
and  least  in  extent  are  the  didactic  treatises  and 
poems  which  make  up  the  rest. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  greater  part  of 
Alcuin's  writings  have  little  connection  with  the 
history  of  education,  and  yet,  even  his  theologi- 
cal works  have  incidental  interest  in  this  respect. 
Besides  a  few  scanty  gleanings  from  his  exegetical 
writings,  there  are  two  of  his  practical  treatises, 
On  the  Virtues  and  Vices  and  On  the  Nature  of  the 
Soul,  which  have  a  general  connection  with  edu- 
cation, but  beyond  this  there  is  nothing  to  be 
found.  The  epistles  are  of  high  value  for  the  gen- 
eral history  of  the  times,  and  more  particularly 
for  the  abundant  light  which  they  shed  upon  the 
activity  of  Alcuin  in  his  relation  to  the  restoration 

89 


go  ALCUIN 

of  school-learning.  The  poems  have  a  lesser  value, 
but  contain  important  help  for  the  history  of  the 
school  at  York,  where  Alcuin  was  bred,  and  for  his 
later  career  in  Frankland.  But  the  chief  interest 
centres  in  his  specifically  didactic  writings,  for 
they  contain  most  fully  his  general  views  on  edu- 
cation as  well  as  separate  treatises  on  some  of  the 
liberal  arts. 

Let  it  be  remarked  at  the  outset  that  Alcuin  is 
rarely  an  original  writer,  but  usually  a  compiler  and 
adapter,  and  even  at  times  a  literal  transcriber  of 
other  men's  work.  He  adds  nothing  to  the  sum  of 
learning,  either  by  invention  or  by  recovery  of  what 
has  been  lost.  What  he  does  is  to  reproduce  or 
adapt  from  earlier  authors  such  parts  of  their  writ- 
ings as  could  be  appreciated  by  the  age  in  which 
he  lived.  Accordingly,  while  he  must  be  refused 
all  the  credit  that  belongs  to  a  courageous  mind 
which  advances  beyond  what  has  been  known,  he 
must  yet  be  highly  esteemed  for  the  invaluable  ser- 
vice he  rendered  as  a  transmitter  and  conserver  of 
the  learning  that  was  in  danger  of  perishing,  and 
as  the  restorer  and  propagator  of  this  learning  in  a 
great  empire,  after  it  had  been  extinct  for  genera- 
tions. A  passage  from  the  letter  dedicating  his  com- 
mentary on  the  Gospel  of  John  to  Gisela  and  Rotrud, 
states  so  aptly  the  timorously  conservative  attitude 
which  appears  in  all  his  literary  efforts,  educational 
or  otherwise,  that  it  is  worth  citing  here.  He 
writes:  "I  have  reverently  traversed  the  store- 
houses of  the  early  fathers,  and  whatever  I  have 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  OF  ALCUIN      91 

been  able  to  find  there,  I  have  sent  of  it  for  you  to 
taste.  First  of  all,  I  have  sought  help  from  St. 
Augustine,  who  has  devoted  the  greatest  study  to 
expounding  the  most  holy  words  of  this  holy  gospel. 
Next,  I  have  drawn  somewhat  from  the  lesser  works 
of  St.  Ambrose,  that  most  holy  doctor,  and  like- 
wise from  the  Homilies  of  the  distinguished  father, 
Gregory  the  Great.  I  have  also  taken  much  from 
the  Homilies  of  the  blessed  presbyter  Bede,  and 
from  other  holy  fathers,  whose,  interpretations  I 
have  here  set  forth.  For  I  have  preferred  to 
employ  their  thoughts  and  words  rather  than  to 
venture  anything  of  my  own  audacity,  even  if  the 
curiosity  of  my  readers  were  to  approve  of  it,  and 
by  a  most  cautious  manner  of  writing  I  have  made 
it  my  care,  with  the  help  of  God,  not  to  set  down 
anything  contrary  to  the  thoughts  of  the  fathers." 
Fortunately  for  his  theological  works,  he  depends 
mainly  on  the  really  great  fathers  of  the  Latin 
Church.  Most  of  what  he  writes  comes  from 
Augustine,  Jerome,  Ambrose  and  Gregory  the 
Great,  while  Bede  is  the  chief  of  his  later  authori- 
ties. Of  the  Greek  fathers,  however,  he  knows  noth- 
ing, except  through  Latin  versions,  and  of  these  he 
makes  no  considerable  use  beyond  drawing  on  a 
translation  of  Chrysostom  to  help  in  composing 
his  commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 
His  literary  sources  are  all  Latin,  nor  is  there  any 
Greek  to  be  found  in  what  he  wrote,  apart  from 
some  citations  copied  from  Jerome  and  occasional 
Greek  words  from  elsewhere.     On  the  educational 


92  ALCUIN 

side  he  depends  mainly  on  Isidore  and  Bede,  but 
with  subsidiary  help  from  Cassiodorus  and  the  trea- 
tise On  the  Categories  falsely  ascribed  to  Augustine. 
He  knew  of  Boethius,  but  made  only  indirect  use 
of  him.  Martianus  Capella  is  not  so  much  as  men- 
tioned. 

The  separate  educational  treatises  of  Alcuin  of 
undoubtedly  genuine  character  are  the  following: 
On  Chrammar,  On  Orthography,  On  Rhetoric  and  the 
Virtues,  On  Dialectics,  a  Disputation  with  Pepin,  and 
a  tedious  astronomical  treatise,  entitled  De  Cursu  et 
Saltu  LuncB  ac  Bissexto.  Three  others  are  ascribed 
to  him  with  less  certainty :  On  the  Seven  Arts,  A 
Disputation  for  Boys,  and  the  so-called  Propositions 
of  Alcuin. 

First  and  most  important  of  these  is  his  dram- 
mar,  which  falls  into  two  parts,  the  one  a  dialogue 
between  Alcuin  and  his  pupils  on  philosophy  and 
liberal  studies  in  general,  and  the  other  a  dia- 
logue between  a  young  Saxon  and  a  Frank  on 
grammar,  also  conducted  in  the  presence  of  Alcuin. 
The  former  dialogue  is  an  original  composition 
and  contains  in  brief  compass  Alcuin's  views  on 
the  end  and  method  of  education,  and  on  the  duty 
of  studying  the  liberal  arts,  to  which  the  entire 
dialogue  serves  as  a  general  introduction.  "Most 
learned  master,"  says  one  of  the  disciples,  opening 
the  dialogue,  "we  have  often  heard  you  say  that 
Philosophy  was  the  mistress  of  all  the  virtues, 
and  alone  of  all  earthly  riches  never  made  its 
possessor  miserable.     We  confess  that  you  have 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  OF  ALCUIN     93 

incited  us  by  such  words  to  follow  after  this  excel- 
lent felicity,  and  we  desire  to  know  what  is  the 
sum  of  its  supremacy  and  by  what  steps  we  may 
make  ascent  thereunto.  Our  age  is  yet  a  tender 
one  and  too  weak  to  rise  unhelped  by  your  hand. 
We  know,  indeed,  that  the  strength  of  the  mind  is 
in  the  heart,  as  the  strength  of  the  eyes  is  in  the 
head.  Now  our  eyes,  whenever  they  are  flooded 
by  the  splendor  of  the  sun,  or  by  reason  of  the 
presence  of  any  light,  are  able  to  discern  most 
clearly  whatever  is  presented  to  their  gaze,  but 
without  this  access  of  light  they  must  remain  in 
darkness.  So  also  the  mind  is  able  to  receive 
wisdom  if  there  be  any  one  who  will  enlighten  it." 
Alcuin  benignantly  replies,  "  My  sons,  ye  have  said 
well  in  comparing  the  eyes  to  the  mind,  and  may 
the  light  that  lighteneth  every  man  that  cometh 
into  this  world  enlighten  your  minds,  to  the  end 
that  ye  may  be  able  to  make  progress  in  philoso- 
phy, which,  as  ye  have  well  said,  never  deserts  its 
possessor."  The  disciples  assent  to  this  and  then 
renew  their  entreaty  in  the  same  figurative  and 
flowery  manner.  "Verily,  Master,"  they  urge, 
"we  know  that  we  must  ask  of  Him  who  giveth 
liberally  and  upbraideth  not.  Yet  we  likewise  need 
to  be  instructed  slowly,  with  many  a  pause  and 
hesitation,  and  like  the  weak  and  feeble  to  be 
led  by  slow  steps  until  our  strength  shall  grow. 
The  flint  naturally  contains  in  itself  the  fire  that 
will  come  forth  when  the  flint  is  struck.  Even  so 
there  is  in  the  human  mind  the  light  of  knowledge 


94  ALCniN 

that  will  remain  hidden  like  the  spark  in  the  flint, 
unless  it  be  brought  forth  by  the  repeated  efforts 
of  a  teacher."  Alcuin  answers :  "  It  is  easy  indeed 
to  point  out  to  you  the  path  of  wisdom,  if  only  ye 
love  it  for  the  sake  of  God,  for  knowledge,  for 
purity  of  heart,  for  understanding  the  truth,  yea, 
and  for  itself.  Seek  it  not  to  gain  the  praise  of 
men  or  the  honors  of  this  world,  nor  yet  for  the 
deceitful  pleasures  of  riches,  for  the  more  these 
things  are  loved,  so  much  the  farther  do  they  cause 
those  who  seek  them  to  depart  from  the  light  of 
truth  and  knowledge." 

After  this  elaborately  courteous  opening  the  dia- 
logue proceeds  to  show  that  true  and  eternal  happi- 
ness, and  not  transitory  pleasure,  is  the  proper  end 
for  a  rational  being  to  set  before  him,  and  that  this 
happiness  consists  in  the  things  that  are  proper  and 
peculiar  to  the  soul  itself,  rather  than  in  what  is 
alien  to  it.  "That,"  says  Alcuin,  "which  is  sought 
from  without  is  alien  to  the  soul,  as  is  the  gather- 
ing together  of  riches,  but  that  which  is  proper  to 
the  soul  is  what  is  within,  namely,  the  graces  of 
wisdom.  Therefore,  0  man,"  he  calls  out  in  fervid 
apostrophe,  "if  thou  art  master  of  thyself,  thou 
shalt  have  what  thou  shalt  never  have  to  grieve  at 
losing,  and  what  no  calamity  shall  be  able  to  take 
away.  Why  then,  O  mortals,  do  ye  seek  without 
for  that  which  ye  have  within?  How  much  better 
is  it  to  be  adorned  within  than  without !  "  "  What, 
then,  are  the  adornments  of  the  soul?"  the  dis- 
ciples  naturally    inquire,    and   Alcuin   answers: 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WEITINGS  OF  ALCUIN      95 

"  Wisdom  is  the  chief  adornment,  and  this  I  urge 
you  to  seek  above  all  things." 

Alcuin  then  explains  that  wisdom  is  itself  eter- 
nal because  it  is  an  inseparable  property  of  the 
soul,  which  is  immortal,  and  in  this  differs  from 
everything  else  of  a  secular  character.  But  its 
pursuit  is  laborious.  The  scholar  will  not  gain  his 
reward  without  study,  any  more  than  the  soldie? 
without  fighting  or  the  farmer  without  plowing. 
It  is  an  old  proverb  that  the  root  of  learning  is 
bitter  but  the  fruit  is  sweet,  and  so  St.  Paul  asserts 
that  "  every  discipline  at  the  present  is  not  joyous 
but  grievous,  yet  afterwards  it  yieldeth  the  peace- 
able fruit  of  righteousness  to  them  that  were  exer- 
cised in  it."  Progress  in  secular  knowledge  is  to  be 
made  by  slow  ascents,  step  by  step,  and  is  to  lead 
to  "  the  better  ways  of  wisdom,  which  conduct  to 
life  eternal."  "May  the  divine  grace  guide  and 
lead  us,"  exclaims  Alcuin,  "into  the  treasures  of 
spiritual  wisdom,  that  ye  may  be  intoxicated  at  the 
fountain  of  divine  plenty ;  that  there  may  be  within 
you  a  well  of  water  springing  up  unto  everlasting 
life.  But,  inasmuch  as  the  Apostle  enjoins  that 
everything  be  done  decently  and  in  order,  I  think 
that  ye  should  be  led  by  the  steps  of  erudition  from 
lower  to  higher  things  until  your  wings  gradually 
grow  stronger,  so  that  ye  may  mount  on  them  to 
view  the  loftier  visions  of  the  pure  ether."  The 
disciples  are  overwhelmed  and  humbly  answer: 
"Master,  raise  us  from  the  earth  by  your  hand 
aud  set  our  feet  upon  the  ascents  of  wisdom." 


96  ALCTHN 

Alcuin  accordingly  proceeds  to  set  before  his 
pupils  the  seven  ascents  of  the  liberal  arts  in  the 
following  manner:  "We  have  read  how  Wisdom 
herself  saith  by  the  mouth  of  Solomon,  '  Wisdom 
hath  builded  her  house,  she  hath  hewn  out  her 
seven  pillars.'  Now  although  this  saying  per- 
tains to  the  Divine  Wisdom  which  builded  for 
Himself  a  house  (that  is,  the  body  of  Christ 
in  the  Virgin's  womb),  and  endued  it  with  the 
seven  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  may  mean  the 
Church,  which  is  the  House  of  God  that  shines  with 
these  gifts,  yet  Wisdom  is  also  built  upon  the  seven 
pillars  of  liberal  letters,  and  it  can  in  no  wise 
afford  us  access  to  any  perfect  knowledge,  unless  it 
be  set  upon  these  seven  pillars,  or  ascents."  Here 
is  a  distinct  advance  on  Alcuin 's  part  beyond  the 
earlier  writers  on  the  liberal  arts.  Augustine  had 
regarded  them  with  qualified  approval  because  they 
were  helpful  towards  understanding  divine  truth. 
Cassiodorus  saw  in  addition  a  mystical  hint  of  their 
excellence  in  the  fact  that  they  were  seven,  and 
fortified  his  position  by  the  text,  "Wisdom  hath 
builded  her  house,  she  hath  hewn  out  her  seven 
columns."  Alcuin  takes  up  the  text  from  Proverbs 
quoted  by  Cassiodorus,  and  finds  in  it  the  liberal 
arts  as  a  matter  of  direct  interpretation.  Sapientia, 
or  Wisdom,  who  had  builded  her  house  and  hewn 
out  her  seven  pillars,  he  mystically  explains  first  of 
Christ  the  Divine  Wisdom  and  next  of  the  Church, 
each  endued  with  the  seven  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  and 
then  proceeds  to  his  third  application,  which  is  that 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  OF  ALCUIN     97 

Sapientia,  or  Wisdom,  which  in  the  speech  of  his 
time  often  meant  learning,  was  built  upon  the 
seven  liberal  arts.  Augustine  found  the  arts  out- 
side of  Scripture,  but  deemed  them  helpful  towards 
understanding  it.  Cassiodorus  found  in  Scripture 
a  mystical  hint  as  to  their  excellence,  and  Alcuin 
gets  them  out  of  Scripture  itself.  It  needs  not  to 
be  told  how  influential  such  an  interpretation  would 
be  on  the  fortunes  of  secular  learning;  for  if  the 
arts  were  once  found  in  the  Scriptures,  there  was 
no  way  of  getting  them  out  of  the  Church.  Hence- 
forth the  prescriptive  utterances  of  Tertullian, 
though  echoed  once  and  again  down  the  middle 
ages,^  could  never  dominate  the  Church. 

But  let  us  return  to  the  dialogue.  The  pupils 
renew  their  request:  "Open  to  us,  as  you  have 
often  promised,  the  seven  ascents  of  theoretical 
discipline."  Alcuin  replies:  "Here,  then,  are  the 
ascents  of  which  ye  are  in  search,  and  0  that  ye 
may  ever  be  as  eager  to  ascend  them  as  ye  now  are 
to  see  them.  They  are  grammar,  rhetoric,  dia- 
lectics, arithmetic,  geometry,  music,  and  astrology. 
On  these  the  philosophers  bestowed  their  leisure 
and  their  study."  Then  he  adds  with  a  boldness 
which  might  well  have  alarmed  him:  "By  reason 
of  these  philosophers  the  catholic  teachers  and 
defenders  of  our  faith  have   proved  themselves 

1  As  late  as  the  thirteenth  century  we  read  in  a  regulation  of 
the  Dominican  order:  "In  libris  gentilium  philosopkorum  non 
studeat,  et  si  ad  horam  suscipiat  saeculares  scientias,  non  addi' 
teat,  nee  arte*  quaa  liberalea  vocant." 


96  ALCUIN 

superior  to  all  the  chief  heretics  in  public  contro- 
versy," and  closes  with  the  exhortation:  "Let  your 
youthful  steps,  my  dearest  sons,  run  daily  along 
these  paths  until  a  riper  age  and  a  stronger  mind 
shall  bring  you  to  the  heights  of  Holy  Scripture. " 

Plainly  in  Alcuin's  mind  the  arts  were  seven 
and  only  seven.  They  are  the  necessary  ascents 
to  the  higher  wisdom  of  the  Scriptures.  Not  the 
fact  that  they  are  simply  useful  to  the  Scriptures, 
but  indispensable,  is  what  gives  them  such  value 
in  Alcuin's  eyes.  Much  of  the  rhetoric  in  which 
his  ideas  exfoliate  is  childish  enough,  but  it  is 
impossible  not  to  see  behind  it  all  a  pure  and  gentle 
spirit,  who  valued  the  scanty  sum  of  learning  he 
possessed  for  no  lesser  reasons  than  the  love  of 
God,  purity  of  soul,  knowledge  of  truth,  and  even 
for  its  own  sake,  as  against  any  pursuit  of  learn- 
ing for  the  vulgar  ends  of  wealth,  popularity  or 
secular  honor. 

The  second  dialogue  in  the  treatise  is  properly 
grammatical.  Two  of  Alcuin's  pupils,  a  Saxon 
and  a  Frank,  are  beginners  in  the  study,  or,  to  put 
it  in  Alcuin's  flowery  language,  "  They  but  lately 
rushed  upon  the  thorny  thickets  of  grammatical 
density."  The  Frank  is  a  boy  of  fourteen  years 
and  the  Saxon  of  fifteen.  The  master  presides 
over  their  interrogations  and  answers.  It  is  decided 
that  grammar  must  begin  with  the  consideration  of 
what  a  letter  is,  though  Alcuin  stops  on  the  way  to 
expound  the  nature  of  words.  It  is  defined  as 
"  the  least  part  of  an  articulate  sound, "    The  letters 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  OF  ALCUIN      99 

are  the  "  elements  "  of  language  because  they  are 
ultimate  and  indivisible,  and  are  built  up  first  into 
syllables,  and  thereafter  successively  into  words, 
clauses,  and  sentences.  Letters  are  of  two  sorts, 
vowels  and  consonants,  and  are  defined  as  follows : 
"The  vowels  are  uttered  by  themselves  and  of 
themselves  make  syllables.  The  consonants  can- 
not be  uttered  by  themselves,  nor  can  they  of  them- 
selves make  syllables."  But  this  sapient  definition 
by  antithesis,  though  accepted  by  the  pupils,  does 
not  contain  all  that  is  to  be  said.  There  is  an  occult 
reason  why  the  alphabet  is  divided  into  vowels  and 
consonants,  as  Alcuin  at  once  informs  them.  "  The 
vowels,"  he  says,  "are,  as  it  were,  the  souls,  and 
the  consonants,  the  bodies  of  words."  "Now  the 
soul  moves  both  itself  and  the  body,  but  the  body 
is  immovable  apart  from  the  soul.  Such,  then,  are 
the  consonants  without  the  vowels.  They  may 
indeed  be  written  by  themselves,  but  they  can 
neither  be  uttered  nor  have  any  power  apart  froin 
vowels."  This  explanation  seems  to  satisfy  them, 
for  they  pursue  the  matter  no  further.  The  pecu- 
liarities of  the  consonants  are  then  discussed  very 
much  in  the  same  manner,  and  the  syllable  is  next 
taken  up.  It  is  defined  as  "  a  sound  expressed  in  let- 
ters (vox  litteralis),  which  has  been  uttered  with  one 
accent  and  at  one  breath."  The  discussion  of  sylla- 
bles falls  into  four  parts,  accent  (accentus),  breath- 
ings (spiritus),  quantity  (tempus),  and  the  number  of 
constituent  letters.  After  these  are  discussed,  the 
pupils  entreat  that  before  proceeding  further  they 


100  ALCum 

may  be  furnished  with  a  definition  of  grammar. 
Alcuin  accordingly  tells  them  that  "  Grammar  is  the 
science  of  written  sounds  (litteralis  scientia),  the 
guardian  of  correct  speaking  and  writing.  It  is 
founded  on  nature,  reason,  authority,  and  custom." 
It  has  been  well  observed  that  this  shrunken  notion 
of  grammar  on  the  part  of  Alcuin  as  contrasted 
with  the  wide  conception  of  the  study  that  pre- 
vailed among  the  grammarians  of  the  later  Roman 
Empire  is  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  intellec- 
tual feebleness  of  the  later  time.  Instead  of  being 
both  the  art  of  writing  and  speaking,  and  also  the 
study  of  the  great  poets  and  orators,  it  has  now 
become  only  the  former  of  these,  a  childish,  techni- 
cal and  barren  study.  This  appears  more  plainly 
as  we  advance  to  Alcuin 's  alarming  enumeration 
of  the  parts  of  grammar.  They  are  "  words,  letters, 
syllables,  clauses,  sayings,  speeches,  definitions, 
feet,  accents,  punctuation  marks,  critical  marks, 
orthographies,  analogies,  etymologies,  glosses, 
distinctions,  barbarisms,  solecisms,  faults,  meta- 
plasms,  figurations,  tropes,  prose,  metres,  fables, 
and  histories." 

Words,  letters  and  syllables,  the  first  three  of 
Alcuin's  twenty-six  parts  of  grammar,  have  been 
discussed,  and  each  of  the  others  is  next  defined. 
Alcuin  then  proceeds  to  the  consideration  of  the 
different  parts  of  speech  in  the  following  order: 
the  noun,  its  genders,  numbers,  "  figures "  and 
cases;  the  pronoun,  its  genders,  "figures,"  num- 
bers and  cases}    then  the  verb  with  its  modes, 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  OF  ALCUIN  ^  101 

"figures,"  inflections  and  numbers;  and  t'he  adverb' 
with  its  "figures."  Lastly  he  treats  of  the  par- 
ticiple, the  conjunction,  the  preposition  and  the 
interjection.  By  "  figures  "  Alcuin  means  the  facts 
relating  to  the  simplicity,  composition  or  deriva- 
tion of  words.  Thus,  under  his  "figures"  of 
verbs,  the  word  cupio  is  in  simple  figure,  concupio 
is  in  composite  figure,  and  concupisco  is  in  deri- 
vative figure,  because  it  comes  from  concupio. 
The  whole  treatment  of  the  parts  of  speech  is 
similarly  feeble  in  spirit  and  almost  entirely  re- 
stricted to  etymology,  so  that  Alcuin's  Grammar 
is  really  devoid  of  orthography,  syntax  and  pros- 
ody. Whatever  is  excellent  in  any  way  in  his 
Grammar  ought  to  be  credited  to  Donatus,  whom 
Alcuin  follows.  Isidore  also  furnishes  him  many 
a  definition,  but  wherever  this  happens  the  trea- 
tise is  apt  to  be  childish.  An  example  or  two  may 
suffice.  The  derivation  of  littera  is  said  to  be 
from  legitera,  "because  the  littera  prepares  a  path 
for  readers  (leg  entibus  iter)."  Feet  in  poetry  are 
so  named  "  because  the  metres  walk  on  them, "  and 
so  on.  Yet  his  book  had  great  fame,  and  Notker, 
writing  a  century  later,  praised  it,  saying,  "  Alcuin 
has  made  such  a  grammar  that  Donatua,  Nicoma- 
chus,  Dositheus  and  our  own  Priscian  seem  as 
nothing  when  compared  with  him." 

In  the  manuscript  copies  of  the  Grammar  there 
appear  to  be  some  slight  parts  missing  at  the  end, 
so  that  it  may  have  been  more  extended  than  we 
suppose  J  but  there  is  no  ground  for  thinking  it 


102  ALCUIN 

covered  more  than  etymology.  However,  Alcuin's 
next  work  is  on  orthography,  and  is  properly  a 
pendant  to  his  Chammar.  It  is  a  short  manual 
containing  a  list  of  words,  alphabetically  arranged, 
with  comments  on  their  proper  spelling,  pronunci- 
ation and  meanings,  and  with  remarks  on  their 
correct  use,  drawn  to  some  extent  from  a  treatise 
by  Bede  on  the  same  subject.  It  is  a  sort  of 
Antibarbarus,  a  help  towards  securing  accuracy 
of  form  and  propriety  of  use  in  the  employment  of 
Latin  words,  and  must  have  been  serviceable  in 
the  instruction  of  youth,  but  more  so  in  the  copy- 
ing of  ancient  manuscripts.  We  may  reasonably 
believe  that  Alcuin's  scribes  in  the  monastery 
of  Tours,  busily  engaged  in  recovering  one  and 
another  patristic  and  classical  writer,  were  guided 
by  his  book  in  the  purification  of  the  copies  they 
made,  and  for  which  the  monastery  at  Tours  be- 
came so  famous.  "Let  him  who  would  publish 
the  sayings  of  the  ancients  read  me,  for  he  who 
follows  me  not  will  speak  without  regard  to 
law,"^  is  the  translation  of  the  couplet  which 
stands  at  the  head  of  the  Orthography  and  indi- 
cates its  purpose.  It  is  Alcuin's  attempt  to  purge 
contemporary  Latin  of  its  barbarisms.  He  puts 
his  comments  oddly  enough.  "Write  vinea"  he 
says,  "if  you  mean  a  vine,  with  i  in  the  first 
syllable  and  e  in  the  second.  But  if  you  mean 
pardon,  write  venia  with  e  in  the  first  syllable  and 

1  Me  legat  antiquas  vult  qui  proferre  loqaelas. 
Me  qui  nou  sequitur,  yult  sine  lege  loqui. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL   WRITINGS   OF  ALCUIN    103 

i  in  the  second.  Write  vacca  with  a  v,  if  you  mean 
a  cow,  but  write  it  with  a  6  if  you  mean  a  berry." 
In  the  same  way  be  careful  to  write  vellus  with  a 
V  to  mean  wool,  and  bellus,  if  you  mean  fair.  Sim- 
ilarly, when  writing,  do  not  confuse  vel  with  fel 
which  means  gall,  or  with  Bel,  the  heathen  god.  By 
no  means  consider  henificus,  a  man  of  good  deeds, 
the  same  as  venificus,  a  poisoner.  So  bibo  and  vivo 
are  not  to  be  mixed.  Such  examples  indicate  that 
Alcuin  had  to  struggle  against  "  rusticity  "  in  pro- 
nunciation as  well  as  in  writing,  —  a  rusticity  which 
was  due  to  the  modifying  influence  of  the  barbarous 
Tudesque  upon  the  pronouncing  of  Latin,  —  an 
influence  which,  even  in  Alcuin 's  time,  was  alter- 
ing the  forms  of  words  in  a  manner  which  presaged 
the  final  demolition  of  Latin  prior  to  the  rise  of 
French. 

Some  of  the  definitions  are  quite  amusing.  Coe- 
lebs,  a  bachelor,  is  defined  as  "one  who  is  on  his 
way  ad  caelum,"  evidently  the  true  monk.  "Write 
oequor  with  a  diphthong,"  for  the  reason  that  it  is 
derived  from  aqua.  Malus,  a  mast,  is  to  have  a 
long  a,  but  "  a  mdlus  homo  ought  to  have  a  short  a." 

It  is  on  the  Grammar  and  Orthography  that  Al- 
cuin's  didactic  fame  principally  rests,  and  justly 
so,  for  in  spite  of  their  puerile  character  they  did 
more  good  service  than  anything  else  he  wrote.  Let 
it  be  remembered  that  the  tall,  blue-eyed  barbarians, 
whom  Alcuin  was  aiming  to  civilize,  were  but  little 
children  when  it  came  to  school-learning.  Let  it 
also  be  remembered  that  Alcuin,  divesting  himself 


104  ALCUIN 

of  all  vanity  and  conceit,  wisely  and  even  humbly 
set  before  them  what  they  could  learn,  and  the 
only  thing  they  could  learn  at  the  start.  Even 
his  master,  Charles,  had  to  toil  painfully  to  bend 
his  fingers,  stiffened  with  long  use  of  the  sword,  to 
the  clerkly  task  of  writing,  and  confessed  that  he 
acquired  the  art  with  great  difficulty. 

The  dialogue  On  Rhetoric  and  the  Virtues  has 
for  its  two  interlocutors  Charles  and  Alcuin,  and 
was  composed  in  response  to  a  request  from  the 
king.  Alcuin  instructs  him  in  the  elements  of 
the  rhetorical  art  with  special  reference  to  its 
applications  in  the  conduct  and  settlement  of  dis- 
putes in  civil  affairs,  and  closes  with  a  short  de- 
scription of  the  four  cardinal  virtues,  —  prudence, 
justice,  fortitude  and  temperance.  It  is,  there- 
fore, not  strictly  a  book  on  rhetoric,  but  rather  on 
its  applications.  It  is  based  on  rhetorical  writ- 
ings of  Cicero,  which  are  rehandled  by  Alcuin, 
and  always  with  loss  and  injury  to  his  originals. 
The  hand  of  Isidore  is  likewise  visible  in  places, 
and  contributes  to  the  general  deterioration.  If 
the  Grammar  was  rudimentary  and  ill-arranged, 
the  Rhetoric  suffers  yet  more  from  its  miscellaneous 
presentation  of  ill-digested  bits  of  rhetoric,  and 
from  its  greater  dulness  of  style.  Moreover,  it  is 
less  jocose  in  spirit  than  are  parts  of  the  Grammar, 
though  Alcuin's  specimen  of  sophistical  reasoning, 
which  he  produces  for  the  instruction  of  the  king, 
is  indeed  comical.  "  What  art  thou?  "  asks  Alcuin, 
and  after  Charles  answers,  "I  am  a  man  (homo)," 
the  dialogue  goes  on  as  follows :  — 


THE   EDUCATIONAL   WKITINGS  OF  ALCUIN    106 

''  Alcuin.    See  how  thou  hast  shut  me  in. 

Charles.    How  so? 

Alcuin.  If  thou  sayest  I  am  not  the  same  as 
thou,  and  that  I  am  a  man,  it  follows  that  thou  art 
not  a  man. 

Charles.   It  does. 

Alcuin.   But  how  many  syllables  has  homo9 

Charles.    Two. 

Alcuin.   Then  art  thou  those  two  syllables? 

Charles.  Surely  not;  but  why  dost  thou  reason 
thus? 

Alcuin.  That  thou  mayest  understand  sophistical 
craft  and  see  how  thou  canst  be  forced  to  a  con- 
clusion. 

Charles.  I  see  and  understand  from  what  was 
granted  at  the  start,  both  that  I  am  homo  and  that 
homo  has  two  syllables,  and  that  I  can  be  shut  up 
to  the  conclusion  that  I  am  these  two  syllables. 
But  I  wonder  at  the  subtlety  with  which  thou  hast 
led  me  on,  first  to  conclude  that  thou  wert  not  a 
man,  and  afterward  of  myself,  that  I  was  two 
syllables." 

After  the  Rhetoric  comes  the  Dialectics,  which  is 
in  part  extracted  or  abridged  from  Isidore,  who 
in  his  turn  had  taken  from  Boethius,  and  in  part 
copied  almost  solidly  from  the  supposed  work  of 
Augustine  on  the  Categories  of  Aristotle.  If  pos- 
sible, it  is  less  original  than  the  Rhetoric,  but  is 
at  least  what  its  title  indicates,  —  an  attempt  to 
say  something  about  dialectics.  However,  as  the 
age  of  medieval  logic  had  not  yet  begun  in  earnest, 


106  ALCUIN 

Alcuin's  treatise  was  perhaps  as  much  as  the  times 
would  bear,  especially  in  view  of  the  existing 
indifference  or  antagonism  in  the  Church  to  the 
subtleties  of  Aristotle.  In  conjunction  with  the 
Chammar  and  Rhetoric,  it  may  be  taken  as  consti- 
tuting such  instruction  in  the  trivium  as  was  given 
in  the  palace  school. 

Interesting  in  its  way  as  a  specimen  of  Alcuin's 
teaching  is  his  dialogue  written  for  Pepin,  then  a 
young  prince  of  sixteen  years,  and  entitled  The 
Disputation  of  Pepin,  the  Most  Noble  and  Royal 
Youth,  with  Alhinus  the  Scholastic.  It  rainbles 
without  plan  and  allegorizes  without  restraint. 
Parts  of  it  run  as  follows :  — 

"Pepin.    What  is  writing? 

Alhinus.   The  guardian  of  history. 

Pepin.   What  is  language? 

Alhinus.    The  betrayer  of  the  soul. 

Pepin.   What  generates  language? 

AlMnus.    The  tongue. 

Pepin.    What  is  the  tongue? 

AJbinu^.    The  whip  of  the  air. 

Pepin.   What  is  air? 

Alhinus.   The  guardian  of  life. 

Pepin.    What  is  life? 

Alhinus.  The  joy  of  the  happy;  the  expectation 
of  death. 

Pepin.   What  is  death? 

Alhinus.  An  inevitable  event;  an  uncertain  jour- 
ney; tears  for  the  living;  the  probation  of  wills; 
the  stealer  of  men. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  OF  ALCUIN    107 

Pepin.    What  is  man? 

Alhinus.  The  slave  of  death  j  a  passing  traveler; 
a  stranger  in  his  place. 

Pepin.   What  is  man  like? 

Alhinus.    An  apple." 

Let  us  understand  this  short  and  sudden  defini- 
tion. Alcuin  means  that  man  hangs  like  an  apple 
on  a  tree  without  being  able  to  know  when  he  is  to 
fall. 

The  questions  on  natural  phenomena  are  not  less 
instructive :  — 

"  Pepin.   What  is  water? 

Alhinus.   A  supporter  of  life;  a  cleanser  of  filth. 

Pepin.   What  is  fire? 

Alhinus.  Excessive  heat;  the  nurse  of  growing 
things ;  the  ripener  of  crops. 

Pepin.   What  is  cold? 

Alhinus.   The  febricity  of  our  members.* 

Pepin.   What  is  frost? 

Alhinus.  The  persecutor  of  plants;  the  destruc- 
tion of  leaves;  the  bond  of  the  earth;  the  source  of 
waters. 

Pepin.   What  is  snow? 

Alhinus.    Dry  water. 

Pepin.   What  is  the  winter? 

Alhinus.    The  exile  of  summer. 

Pepin.    What  is  the  spring? 

Alhinus.   The  painter  of  the  earth. 

Pepin.   What  is  the  autumn? 

Alhinus.   The  bam  of  the  year." 

1  This  "  cold  "  is  apparently  a  chilL 


108  ALCUIN 

After  more  of  this  same  sort,  the  dialogue  rapidly 
runs  into  puzzles  and  then  closes. 

The  treatise  De  Cursu  et  Saltu  Lunce  ac  Bissezto 
needs  no  special  notice.  It  deals  with  the  method 
of  calculating  the  changes  of  the  moon  with  special 
reference  to  the  determination  of  Easter,  and  is 
compiled  for  the  instruction  of  the  king.  Bede  is 
the  principal  authority. 

There  remain  for  consideration  the  three  works 
somewhat  doubtfully  attributed  to  Alcuin.  The 
first  is  entitled  On  the  Seven  Arts,  and  is  a  fragment 
derived  from  the  work  of  Cassiodorus  on  the  same 
subject.  But  only  the  first  two  parts,  grammar  and 
rhetoric,  are  described,  and  they  are  in  part  copied 
and  in  part  abridged  from  their  original.  Alcuin 
may  have  taken  them  after  his  manner  from  Cassi- 
odorus, without  any  thought  of  laying  claim  to  the 
production  as  his  own.  But  whether  he  did  this  or 
not,  the  fragment  is  useful  in  that  it  shows  that  the 
book  of  Cassiodorus  On  the  Arts  and  Disciplines  of 
Liberal  Letters  was  consulted  in  the  time  of  Alcuin. 
The  so-called  Disputation  of  the  Boys  is  likewise 
doubtful.  It  is  a  set  of  questions  and  answers 
on  Scriptural  subjects  and  may  at  least  serve  as 
another  example  of  the  catechetical  method  of  that 
time.  Much  more  interesting  is  the  set  of  puzzles 
entitled  TTie  Propositions  of  Alcuin,  the  Teacher  of 
the  Emperor  Charles  the  Great,  for  Whetting  the  Wit 
of  Youth.  Unfortunately,  the  Venerable  Bede  had 
written  just  such  a  treatise,  which  is  here  closely 
copied.    But  this  need  not  weigh  against  the  proba- 


THE  EDUCATIONAL   WRITINGS  OF  ALCUIN    109 

bility  of  Alcuin's  taking  and  using  it.  But  whetlier 
he  did  really  do  so,  or  whether  copyists  attributed 
it  to  him,  is  a  matter  of  little  moment,  for  it  well 
represents  the  character  of  the  teaching  of  the  time. 
It  is,  in  fact,  not  unlikely  that  these  are  the  prop- 
ositions which  Alcuin  enclosed  in  a  letter  to 
Charles  and  styled  "  certain  figures  of  arithmetical 
subtlety  sent  for  the  sake  of  amusement."  Charles 
himself  refers  to  his  excursions  with  Alcuin 
"through  the  plains  of  arithmetical  art,"  and  Al- 
cuin speaks  in  one  of  his  poems  of  "  studying  the 
fair  forms  of  numbers"  with  Charles.  The  pro- 
positiones  consist  in  the  main  of  very  simple  exer- 
cises, all  solved  by  painfully  rudimentary  methods. 
Not  one  of  them  exhibits  an  apprehension  on 
Alcuin's  part  of  any  mathematical  idea  or  for- 
mula. Forty-five  of  the  fifty-three  propositions 
may,  by  courtesy,  be  styled  exercises  in  reckoning. 
Each  one  is  twofold  in  its  structure,  containing 
the  propositio  and  its  attached  solutio.  They  are 
put  in  the  style  of  a  master  towards  his  pupils,  the 
proposition  generally  culminating  in  some  such 
formula  as  "let  him  solve  this  who  can"  (solvat 
qui  potest),  or,  "  let  him  that  understandeth  say  how 
we  must  divide,"  or  simply,  "let  him  who  is  able 
answer."  The  propositions  themselves  are  various, 
but  are  confined  to  a  few  kinds  of  questions,  all  put 
in  concrete  form  and  sometimes  jocosely.  Occa- 
sionally there  is  no  regard  paid  to  the  probability 
of  the  state  of  things  pictured  in  the  proposition. 
Thus  a  king  is  represented  as  gathering  an  army 


110  ALCUIN 

in  geometrical  progression,  one  man  in  the  first 
town,  two  in  the  second,  four  in  the  third,  eight  in 
the  fourth,  and  so  on  through  thirty  towns.  The 
total  is  1,073,741,823  soldiers,  an  army  whose 
number  might  well  amuse  the  imperial  pupil.  Of 
course  Alcuin  is  entirely  ignorant  in  this  problem  of 
any  formula  for  the  sum  of  a  geometrical  progres- 
sion, and  so  he  proceeds  to  count  it  all  out.  The 
solutions  are  alarmingly  infantile  in  their  methods. 
The  numerals  are  Roman,  and  this  adds  enormously 
to  the  slowness  of  working  the  examples.  The  only 
processes  employed  are  the  simplest  operations  of 
addition,  multiplication,  and  division,  commonly 
neglecting  all  "  remainders  "  in  division,  and  there 
is  rarely  any  use  of  subtraction.  Common  fractions 
of  a  very  elementary  sort  are  at  times  used,  but  no 
fractional  symbols  are  employed.  They  are  spoken 
of  as  "the  half,"  "the  half  of  the  half,"  "the  third 
part,"  "the  sixth  part,"  and  "the  eleventh  part." 
They  are  not  treated  as  fractions,  but  as  divisors. 
"  Aliquot  parts "  frequently  figure  in  construct- 
ing the  puzzles,  and  there  are  some  examples 
of  finding  areas  of  triangles,  always  isosceles, 
and  of  quadrangular  and  "round"  figures.  His 
forty-second  proposition  is  unique,  in  being  clever. 
There  is  a  ladder  with  one  hundred  steps.  One 
dove  is  on  the  first  step,  two  on  the  second,  three  on 
the  third,  and  so  on.  How  many  doves  are  on  the 
ladder?  On  the  first  and  ninety-ninth  steps  there 
are  accordingly  one  hundred  doves,  and  so  on  the 
second  and  ninety-eighth  steps.     Proceeding  thus 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  OF  ALCUIN    111 

through  the  pairs  of  steps,  we  find  forty-nine  pairs 
of  steps,  each  containing  one  hundred  doves,  with 
the  fiftieth  and  hundredth  steps  omitted,  which 
last  contain  jointly  one  hundred  and  fifty  doves. 
The  total  is  accordingly  five  thousand  and  fifty. 
In  this  example  Alcuin  unconsciously  goes  through 
the  process  which  underlies  arithmetical  progres- 
sion. Some  of  the  propositions  are  properly  alge- 
braical, involving  the  simple  equation  in  one 
unknown  quantity,  but  of  course  he  is  not  aware  of 
this  and  works  them  out  mechanically. 

Not  only  are  the  methods  of  solution  employed 
so  crude,  but  no  principle  of  arithmetic  ever  seems 
to  dawn  upon  his  mind.  Cumbrous  manipulation 
of  particular  problems  is  his  only  accomplishment. 
The  character  of  most  of  the  problems  solved  is 
depressing  to  think  about.  Of  course  they  are  con- 
crete and  meant  to  be  witty.  They  are  "  ad  acuendos 
juvenes."  They  are  "figures  of  arithmetical  subt- 
lety" meant  to  whet  the  wit  of  youth,  but  it  is 
surely  startling  to  read  of  a  sty  that  holds  262,304 
pigs,  as  one  which  some  unknown  quidam  has  con- 
structed, starting  with  one  sow  and  a  litter  of 
seven ;  —  and  all  this  invented  to  get  an  example  in 
multiplication.  Other  examples  are  equally  silly 
without  being  funny.  Quadrangular  houses  are  to 
be  put  into  a  triangular  city  so  as  to  fill  the  triangle 
completely,  or  into  a  "round"  city  with  a  similar 
result,  the  answers  being  worked  out  in  entire 
unconsciousness  of  the  logical  impossibility  in- 
volved.    Leaving  the  semi-arithmetical  exercises^ 


112  ALCUIN 

we  have  a  variety  of  trivial  puzzles  remaining. 
After  an  ox  lias  plowed  all  day,  how  many  steps 
does  he  take  in  the  last  furrow?  The  answer  is, 
"none,  because  the  last  furrow  covers  his  tracks." 
This  would  serve  as  well  for  the  first  or  for  any  or 
for  all  furrows.  When  a  farmer  goes  plowing, 
and  has  turned  thrice  at  each  end  of  his  field,  how 
many  furrows  has  he  drawn?  Alcuin  says  six,  but 
the  Venerable  Bede  said  seven,  and  the  Venerable 
Bede  was  right,  if  only  the  farmer  starts  in  his 
first  furrow  on  a  straight  line  from  one  end  of  the 
field  and  finishes  his  last  furrow.  In  another  prop- 
osition Alcuin  requests  that  three  hundred  pigs  be 
killed  in  three  batches  on  successive  days,  an  odd 
number  to  be  killed  each  day.  But  as  three  odd 
numbers  cannot  add  up  an  even  sum,  he  has  an 
impregnably  insoluble  proposition.  "  Eccefabula  I " 
he  cries  in  glee,  "here's  a  go!  There  is  no  solu- 
tion. This  fable  is  only  to  provoke  boys."  He 
adds  a  scholium  at  the  end  to  the  effect  that  the 
proposition  will  work  in  the  same  way  if  only 
thirty  pigs  are  taken. 

Let  not  Alcuin' s  treatises  be  judged  apart  from 
the  environment  of  his  times.  The  age,  whose 
intellect  he  addressed,  thought  as  a  child  and  spake 
as  a  child,  and  to  have  presented  anything  else  was 
to  present  what  it  could  not  understand.  It  was  to 
invite  certain  failure  in  any  attempt  made  in  behalf 
of  learning.  It  was  a  necessary  first  stage  in  the 
evolution  of  modern  European  onlture  that  some 
one  should  at  some  time  teach  the  rudiments  to 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WKITINGS  OF  ALCUIN    113 

barbarous  western  Europe,  and  that  Alcuin  did  this 
and  recognized  the  limitations  under  which  learn- 
ing would  be  received,  is  not  so  much  a  proof  of 
mediocrity  as  of  his  sagacity.  He  was  not  a  writer 
of  genius,  nor  of  originality,  nor  of  vast  learning, 
but  he  was  a  man  of  great  practical  sense. 

Nor  should  his  properly  didactic  writings  furnish 
the  basis  for  a  judgment  as  to  the  educational  attain- 
ments of  their  author,  except  as  exhibiting  the  sub- 
stance of  his  formal  instruction.  If  this  is  all 
we  have,  then  the  best  that  can  be  said  for  his 
teaching  is  that  he  gave  western  Europe  imper- 
fectly understood  fragments  of  the  wisdom  of  the 
ancients,  and  is  more  significant  from  the  fact 
that  he  makes  plain  the  intellectual  darkness  of 
the  time  than  that  he  is  introducing  a  learning 
that  relieves  it.  Happily,  there  is  another  side 
to  his  educational  activity  which  appears  in  many 
of  his  letters.  They  give  us  many  a  glimpse  of 
his  utter  unselfishness,  his  purity  and  gentleness, 
his  fidelity  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  pupils, 
and  his  never-ceasing  personal  anxiety  that  their 
lives  and  minds  should  be  moulded  by  the  spirit  of 
Christ.  Here  is  the  true  Alcuin,  not  the  reviver 
of  a  decayed  and  fragmentary  school  learning, 
but  the  inspirer  of  Christian  ideals,  both  as  to 
studies  and  conduct,  in  an  age  when  both  seemed 
to  be  disappearing  from  the  face  of  Europe. 

Alcuin's  eye  followed  his  pupils  in  their  later 
life  and  his  hand  of  support  or  restraint  was  out- 
Stretched  to  them  again  and  again.     When  one  of 


114  ALCUIN 

them,  who  was  fond  of  high  living  and  the  company 
of  actors,  was  going  to  Italy, he  cautioned  him  soberly 
not  only  as  to  the  care  of  his  health  in  that  climate, 
but  as  to  his  general  conduct.  "My  dearest  son," 
he  writes,  "great  is  my  longing  for  your  health 
and  prosperity.  I  therefore  desire  to  send  you  a 
letter  of  exhortation  in  place  of  the  spoken  words 
of  paternal  affection,  beseeching  you  to  keep  God 
before  your  eyes  and  in  your  remembrance  with 
entire  devotion  of  mind  and  virtuous  intention. 
Let  Christ  be  On  your  lips  and  in  your  heart.  Act 
not  childishly  and  follow  not  boyish  whims,  but  be 
perfect  in  all  uprightness  and  continence  and  mod- 
eration, that  God  may  be  glorified  by  your  works, 
and  that  the  father  who  bore  you  may  not  be  made 
ashamed.  Be  temperate  in  food  and  drink,  re- 
garding rather  your  own  welfare  than  any  carnal 
delight  or  the  vain  praise  of  men,  which  profiteth 
not  if  your  acts  be  displeasing  to  God.  It  is  bet- 
ter to  please  God  than  to  please  actors,  to  look 
after  the  poor  than  to  go  after  buffoons.  Let 
your  feastings  be  decorous,  and  those  who  feast 
with  you  be  religious.  Be  old  in  morals,  though 
young  in  years."  Another  letter  written  from 
Tours  in  Alcuin's  old  age  to  the  young  princes  still 
at  the  palace,  when  Charles,  their  father,  was  away 
in  Italy,  is  both  tender  and  playful  in  its  affection. 
It  reads  in  part :  "  To  my  dearest  sons  in  Christ 
their  father  wisheth  eternal  welfare.  I  would  write 
you  a  great  deal  if  only  I  had  a  dove  or  a  raven 
that  would  carry  my  letter  on  its  faithful  pinions. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  OF  ALCUIN    115 

Nevertheless,  I  have  given  this  little  sheet  to  the 
winds,  that  it  may  come  to  you  by  some  favoring 
breeze,  unless,  perchance,  the  gentle  zephyr  change 
to  an  eastern  blast.  But  arise,  0  south  or  north 
or  any  wind!  and  bear  away  this  little  parchment 
to  bid  you  greeting  and  to  announce  our  prosperity, 
and  our  great  desire  to  see  you  well  and  whole, 
even  as  the  father  desires  his  sons  to  be.  Oh,  how 
happy  was  that  day  when  amid  our  labors  we  played 
at  the  sports  of  letters!  But  now  all  is  changed. 
The  old  man  has  been  left  to  beget  other  sons,  and 
weeps  for  his  former  children  that  are  gone." 

In  his  little  book,  On  The  Virtues  and  Vices,  sent 
to  Count  Wido  for  his  moral  instruction,  he  com- 
mends to  him  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  in  words 
of  quiet  serenity  and  deep  spirituality.  "In  the 
reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  he  writes,  "lies 
the  knowledge  of  true  blessedness,  for  therein,  as 
in  a  mirror,  man  may  consider  himself,  what  he 
is  and  whither  he  goes.  He  who  would  be  always 
with  God  ought  frequently  to  pray  and  frequently 
to  read,  for  when  we  pray  we  are  speaking  with 
God,  and  when  we  read  God  is  speaking  to  us." 
More  than  one  letter  of  Alcuin's  to  wayward  pupils 
has  come  to  us.  To  one  of  them  he  writes  in  the 
following  manner:  "A  mourning  father  sends 
greeting  to  his  prodigal  son.  Why  hast  thou  for- 
gotten thy  father  who  taught  thee  from  infancy, 
imbued  thee  with  the  liberal  disciplines,  fash- 
ioned thy  morals,  and  fortified  them  with  the 
precepts  of  eternal  life,  to  join  thyself  to  the  com- 


116  ALCUIN 

pany  of  harlots,  to  the  feastings  of  revellers,  to  the 
vanities  of  the  proud?  Art  not  thou  that  youth 
that  was  once  a  praise  in  the  mouth  of  all,  a  delight 
to  their  eyes,  and  a  pleasure  to  their  ears?  Alas! 
alas !  now  art  thou  a  reproach  in  the  mouth  of  all, 
the  curse  of  their  eyes  and  the  detestation  of  their 
ears.  What  has  so  overturned  thee  but  drunken- 
ness and  luxury?  Who,  0  gracious  boy,  thou  son 
and  light  of  the  Church,  has  persuaded  thee  to  feed 
the  swine  and  to  eat  of  their  husks?  Arise,  my 
son,  arise,  and  return  to  thy  father  and  say  not 
once,  but  often,  'Father,  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven  and  in  thy  sight. ' " 

Such  are  a  few  out  of  many  instances  where 
Alcuin  has  left  on  record  the  secret  of  his  power 
over  the  character  of  his  pupils.  He  had  been 
their  master  in  things  scholastic,  but  he  was  also 
their  father  in  things  spiritual. 


CHAPTER  VI 

ALCUIN'S  CHARACTER 

It  is  not  surprising  that  conflicting  judgments 
have  been  passed  upon  the  character  of  Alcuin. 
He  belonged  to  an  age  alien  to  our  own  both  in 
the  substance  and  manner  of  its  intellectual  life. 
He  belonged,  moreover,  to  an  age  wherein  we  see, 
with  some  confusion  of  vision,  the  disappearance 
of  an  old  chaotic  state  of  things  and  the  emerging 
of  a  new  social  order,  —  one  of  those  times  in  his- 
tory when  the  cross-currents  run  so  strongly  that 
it  often  becomes  hard  to  hold  in  view  the  true 
central  drift  of  affairs.  Besides  this,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  in  his  chief  public  activity  he 
was  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  and  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  raw,  unformed  Franks  in  their 
effect  on  the  manifestation  of  his  own  traits  among 
them,  and  through  his  behavior  among  them  to  us, 
must  be  taken  into  account.  Additional  elements 
which  require  to  be  appreciated  are  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  antecedents  of  Alcuin,  his  own  personal 
traits  so  far  as  separable  from  his  surroundings, 
the  character  of  the  teaching  he  received  at  York 
and  of  the  masters  who  gave  it,  the  actual  sum 
of  the  learning  of  the  time  and  the  nature  of  his 
acquaintance  with   it,  and  the  effect  of  his  own 

117 


118  ALCUIN 

efforts  upon  his  pupils  and  their  successors.  Thus, 
because  of  this  complexity  of  elements  and  the 
additional  embarrassment  caused  by  the  imper- 
fection of  our  records,  there  have  been  almost  as 
many  opinions  as  writers  about  Alcuin.  "  Consid- 
ering the  period  in  which  he  lived,  he  may  be 
regarded  as  a  universal  genius,"^  is  the  judgment 
of  one  of  his  biographers.  Another  depicts  him 
as  "  full  of  faith  in  the  power  and  the  destiny  of 
man's  intellect, "  and  in  fact  quite  a  modern  in  his 
attitude.''  The  Abb6  Laforet  in  his  sketch  exceeds 
all  bounds  of  moderation  in  eulogizing  Alcuin 's 
learning.  "The  erudition  of  Alcuin,"  he  writes, 
"  from  whatever  point  it  be  viewed,  embraced  both 
the  world  of  secular  and  of  sacred  learning.  On 
one  side  he  brings  before  us  the  most  famous  phi- 
losophers, historians  and  poets  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  and  on  the  other  exhibits  a  knowledge  of 
the  whole  of  ecclesiastical  history  and  Christian 
doctrine.""  Another,  with  more  justice,  rates  him 
as  "the  most  learned  man  of  his  age,"*  but  leaves 
the  value  of  this  opinion  to  be  further  determined 
by  the  character  of  the  learning  to  which  Alcuin  had 
access.  Less  complimentary,  as  well  as  disappoint- 
ing is  the  judgment  which  makes  him  merely  "  an 
estimable  man,  and  a  good  administrator,  but  of  no 

1  Lorenz,  Lift  of  Alcuin,  London,  1837,  p.  245. 

2  Monnier,  Alcuin  et  Charlemagne,  p.  357. 

8  Laforet,   Alcuin  Restaurateur  des   Science*    en  Occident 
tout  Charlemagne,  p.  246. 

*  Histoire  Lit€raire  de  la  France,  VoL  IV,  p.  344. 


ALCUIN'S   CHARACTER  119 

original  genius,  and  cast  in  a  monastic  mould."  ^ 
From  these  diverse  estimates,  whether  eulogistic 
or  depreciatory,  of  Alcuin's  scholarly  qualities, 
it  is  a  relief  to  turn  to  such  a  well-balanced  judg- 
ment as  that  which  asserts  that  "  Alcuin  was  rather 
a  man  of  learning  and  action  than  of  genius  and 
contemplation,  like  Bede,  but  his  power  of  organi- 
zation and  of  teaching  was  great,  and  his  services 
to  religion  and  literature  in  Europe,  based  indeed 
on  the  foundation  of  Bede,  were  more  widely  ex- 
tended, and  in  themselves  inestimable."* 

The  same  contrariety  is  discoverable  in  the  esti- 
mates put  on  other  phases  of  Alcuin's  character. 
Thus  his  humility  seems  to  one  ostentatious,  and 
to  another  genuine.  His  timidity  becomes  either 
rank  cowardice  or  wise  prudence.  His  conserva- 
tive distrust  of  anything  outside  the  Roman  tradi- 
tion is  interpreted  both  as  a  trait  which  "  dwarfs 
him  almost  to  littleness,"  '  and  as  the  saving  quality 
of  all  his  teaching.* 

Underneath  these  diversities,  due  in  part  to  the 
point  of  view  of  the  writers  and  in  part  to  an  atten- 
tion bestowed  on  certain  aspects  of  Alcuin's  charac- 
ter to  the  obscuring  of  others,  and  thus  leading  to 
casual  error  or  even  serious  disproportion,  there  is 

1  Laurie,  Rise  and  Early  Constitution  of  Universities,  p.  47. 

*  "  Alcuin,"  by  Bishop  Stubbs,  in  the  Dictionary  of  Christian 
Biography. 

8  Mullinger,  Schools  of  Charles  the  Great,  p.  126. 

*  Laforet,  Alcuin  Restaurateur  des  Sciences  en  Occident  Moun 
Charlemagne,  p.  247,  note  2. 


120  ALCUm 

yet  an  agreement  as  to  much  that  is  essential. 
After  all,  the  original  and  proper  personality  of 
Alcuin,  as  distinguished  from  any  modified  mani- 
festations of  his  character  under  stress  of  circum- 
stances, which  at  times  obscured  his  real  self,  is 
/  not  very  difl&cult  to  discover  and  portray.  He  was 
a  man  of  pure  and  unselfish  character,  thoroughly 
penetrated  by  a  deep  and  gentle  piety  joined  to 
strong  moral  earnestness.  Inwrought  with  these 
fundamental  traits  was  his  Anglo-Saxon  sobriety 
and  fidelity,  to  which  his  training  at  the  school  in 
York  added  habits  of  industry  in  study  and  vigorous 
self-control  in  morals.  The  models  which  he  con- 
sciously aspired  to  imitate  were  those  characters 
which  had  themselves  been  moulded  on  the  strict 
lines  of  Church  orthodoxy.  His  intellectual  ideals 
were  thus  limited  by  ecclesiastical  tradition,  and 
hence  his  supreme  aim  as  a  teacher  was  to  master 
and  communicate  the  existing  learning  so  far  as 
adopted  by  the  Church,  without  any  thought  of  crit- 
icism upon  it  or  adventurous  speculation  beyond  it. 
Fidelity  to  received  truth  and  not  discovery  of  new 
truth  was  accordingly  his  one  passion  as  a  student. 
Whatever  cramping  effect  such  a  conservative  atti- 
tude would  have  had  on  the  development  of  a  learn- 
ing that  had  once  been  planted  and  needed  growth, 
this  injurious  effect  was  not  visible  in  Alcuin's 
introduction  of  studies  into  Frankland.  Indeed, 
it  was  rather  a  help  than  a  hindrance  to  the  cause 
of  education  that  only  what  was  generally  accepted 
95  settled  should  be  taught  at  the  first.     Alcuin 


ALCUIN'S  CHARACTER  121 

was  therefore  the  man  for  his  time.  The  airy 
speculations  of  the  bright  Irish  scholars,  "their 
versatility  in  everything,  with  sure  knowledge  of 
nothing,"  ^  as  Theodulf  contemptuously  put  it,  and 
their  general  tendency  to  question  the  body  of 
accepted  tradition,  would  have  unfitted  them  to  be 
introducers  and  inculcators  of  the  rudiments  of  a 
school  learning  upon  which  any  hope  of  future 
progress  might  securely  depend. 

It  was  also  well  that  Alcuin  joined  to  his  consid- 
erable learning  both  unselfishness  of  purpose  and  ^ 
great  tact.  Though  Charles  assigned  rich  bene- 
fices for  his  support,  he  remained  a  poor  man  to 
the  end  of  his  life,  using  the  means  at  his  command 
to  further  the  cause  of  learning.  Though  in  the 
line  of  succession  to  the  archbishopric  of  York,  he 
was  indifferent  to  this  as  to  all  other  ecclesiastical 
advancement,  content  to  be  a  simple  deacon  or 
"humble  Levite,"  as  he  so  often  styles  himself. 
His  influence  was  thus  more  evidently  the  result 
of  his  own  personal  qualities  than  of  the  accidents 
of  ecclesiastical  station,  and  the  example  of  self- 
denial  which  he  set  to  his  scholars  proclaimed 
eloquently  enough  the  excellence  of  learning  over 
the  advantages  of  wealth  and  position.  "It  is 
easy  indeed  to  point  out  to  you  the  path  of  wis- 
dom," was  his  noble  encouragement  to  them,  "if 
only  ye  love  it  for  the  sake  of  God,  for  knowledge, 
for  purity  of  heart,  for  understanding  the  truth, 
yea,  and  for  itself.     Seek  it  not  to  gain  the  praise 

iMigne,yol.CV,322. 


122  ALCUm 

of  men,  or  the  honors  of  this  world,  nor  yet  for 
the  deceitful  pleasures  of  riches,  for  the  more  these 
things  are  loved  so  much  the  farther  do  they  cause 
those  who  seek  them  to  depart  from  the  light  of 
truth  and  knowledge."  ^  This  is  the  spirit  of  his 
best  teaching,  and  in  this,  if  in  nothing  else,  he  is 
the  finest  soul  of  his  age;  nor  has  any  age  since 
his  time  either  outlived  or  lived  up  to  his  monition. 
We  must  also  credit  him  with  a  certain  largeness 
of  view  in  spite  of  his  circumscribed  horizon.  He 
had  some  notion  of  the  continuity  of  the  intellectual 
life  of  man,  of  the  perils  that  be  set  the  transmis- 
sion of  learning  from  age  to  age,  and  of  the  dis- 
grace that  attached  to  those  who  would  allow  those 
noble  arts  to  perish  which  the  wisest  of  men  among 
the  ancients  had  discovered.  He  saw  clearly  that 
it  was  vitally  important  for  education  to  pervade 
the  Church,  wherein  all  hopes  of  learning  were  then 
centred,  and  that  it  was  also  valuable  as  a  civilizing 
agent  in  the  world.  Bestowing  his  instruction  in  the 
first  instance  on  those  who  were  to  be  churchmen, 
he  also  taught  clerks  and  laymen  alike  at  York,  at 
Aachen  and  at  Tours,  not  for  hire,  not  for  osten- 
tation of  his  erudition,  but  without  money  and 
without  price,  for  the  love  of  souls.  Perceiving 
that  the  precious  treasure  of  knowledge  was  then 
hidden  in  a  few  books,  he  made  it  his  care  to 
transmit  to  future  ages  copies  undisfigured  by 
slips  of  the  pen  or  mistakes  of  the  understanding. 
Thus,  in  every  way  that  lay  within  his  power, 

1  Orammatica,  Migne,  CI,  860. 


ALCUIN'S  CHARACTER  123 

he  endeavored  to  put  the  fortunes  of  learning  for 
the  times  that  should  succeed  him  in  a  position  of 
advantage,  safeguarded  by  an  abundance  of  truth- 
fully transcribed  books,  interpreted  by  teachers  of 
his  own  training,  sheltered  within  the  Church  and 
defended  by  the  civil  power. 

In  view  of  such  inestimable  services,  it  becomes 
a  matter  of  small  concern  to  seek  after  his  defects. 
They  are  visible  enough,  so  far  as  important  to  an 
understanding  of  his  place  in  education,  in  the 
limitations  which  define  his  ideals  and  achieve- 
ments. Therefore,  let  the  best  he  wrought  be 
taken  as  reflecting  Alcuin  at  his  best,  exhibiting, 
as  in  a  fine  likeness,  the  expression  for  which  he 
most  deserves  to  be  remembered. 


CHAPTER  VII 

RABANUS  MAURUS  AND  ALCUIN'S  OTHER  PUPILS 

At  the  time  of  Alcuin's  death,  the  chief  posts  of 
advantage  for  promoting  the  cause  of  education 
within  the  empire  of  Charles  the  Great  were  held 
by  his  pupils  or  friends.  Theodulf  was  bishop  of 
Orleans,  the  adviser  of  Charles  in  his  later  years, 
and  of  his  successor,  Lewis  the  Pious.  His  beloved 
Amo  was  archbishop  of  Salzburg,  Riculf  of  May- 
ence,  Rigbod  of  Treves,  and  Leidrad  of  Lyons; 
while  the  younger  Eanbald,  as  archbishop  of  York, 
might  be  depended  upon  to  foster  sound  learning 
in  Britain.  Adelhard,  the  princely  cousin  of 
Charles  the  Great,  who  had  retired  from  court 
when  a  young  man  to  enter  the  abbey  of  Corbie 
near  Amiens,  had  become  its  abbat,  and  after  the 
death  of  Alcuin  founded  the  abbey  of  new  Corbie 
in  Saxony  in  822,  becoming  its  first  abbat  and 
remaining  at  the  head  of  both  monasteries  until 
his  death  in  826.  Angilbert  ruled  the  abbey  of  St. 
Riquier.  Sigulf  became  abbat  of  Perrieres,  one 
of  the  houses  whose  revenues  had  been  assigned 
to  Alcuin  on  his  coming  into  Frankland.  On  the 
death  of  Sigulf  in  821,  Aldrich,  who  had  studied 
at  Tours,  succeeded  him  as  abbat  of  Perrieres,  and 
80  continued  until  829,  when  he  became  archbishop 
124 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  125 

of  Sens.  He  also  taught  theology  for  a  while  in 
the  palace  school,  and  was  instrumental  in  reform- 
ing the  discipline  of  the  abbey  of  St.  Denis.  He 
died  at  Ferrieres  in  836.  Alcuin's  favorite  pupil, 
Fridugis,  by  his  desire  succeeded  him  as  head  of 
the  monastery  and  school  at  Tours  in  804,  continu- 
ing there  until  his  death  in  834.  His  friend  and 
correspondent,  St.  Benedict,  ruled  the  monastery 
at  Aniane  in  Languedoc.  Others  of  his  pupils 
of  lesser  fame  were  scattered  here  and  there  in 
various  schools,  while  the  greatest  and  almost  the 
latest  of  his  disciples,  young  Rabanus  Maurus,  the 
primus  prceceptor  Germanioe,  was  already  teaching 
in  the  school  at  Fulda,  destined  under  his  presi- 
dency to  become  more  famous  than  Tours  itself. 

"In  that  part  of  Germany  which  the  eastern 
Franks  inhabit,"  writes  Rudolph,  the  contem- 
porary biographer  of  Rabanus,  "there  is  a  place 
called  Fulda  from  the  name  of  a  neighboring  river. 
It  is  situated  in  a  great  forest  which  in  modern 
times  is  called  Buchonia,  or  Beechwood,  by  the 
inhabitants  of  those  parts.  The  holy  martyr  Boni- 
face, who  was  sent  as  an  ambassador  from  the 
apostolic  see  into  Germany  and  ordained  bishop 
of  the  church  of  Mayence,  obtained  this  woodland, 
inasmuch  as  it  was  secluded  and  far  removed  from 
the  goings  and  comings  of  men,  from  Carloman, 
king  of  the  Franks,  and  by  authority  of  Pope 
Zacharias  founded  a  monastery  there  in  the  tenth 
year  before  his  martyrdom,  being  the  seven  hundred 
and  forty-fourth  year  after  the  birth  of  our  Lord. 


126  ALCUIN 

"  Now  the  fifth  abbat  appointed  to  rule  over  the 
monastery  after  the  blessed  Boniface  was  Rabanus, 
who  was  also  my  preceptor,  a  man  deeply  religious 
and  well  instructed  in  Holy  Scripture,  whose  whole 
study  was  given  to  meditation  in  the  law  of  the 
Lord  and  to  the  teaching  of  truth,  and  moreover  to 
exercising  the  greatest  care  over  monastic  discipline 
and  the  advancement  of  his  scholars." 

Rabanus  was  born  in  Mayence  in  776.  While 
yet  a  child  he  was  sent  to  the  abbey  school  of 
Fulda  to  be  educated,  and  at  once  embraced  the 
monastic  life.  The  school  had  already  attained 
great  reputation.  Its  foundation  had  been  laid  by 
Boniface,  the  "apostle  of  Germany."  Sturm,  the 
first  abbat,  had  visited  the  Italian  abbeys  in  747,  in 
search  of  a  pattern  for  his  own,  and  on  his  return 
modeled  the  abbey  and  its  school  after  Monte 
Cassino,  the  foremost  of  the  Benedictine  houses. 
Its  second  abbat  was  Baugulf,  who  ruled  from  780 
to  802,  coincident  with  almost  the  whole  time  of 
Alcuin's  activity  in  the  palace  school  and  at  Tours. 
Being  then  one  of  the  leading  abbeys,  it  was  directly 
affected  by  the  educational  revival  instituted  by 
Charles  under  Alcuin's  guidance,  and  the  copy  of 
the  great  capitulary  of  787  addressed  to  Baugulf 
is  the  only  one  that  has  been  preserved  to  modern 
times.  Rabanus  pursued  his  youthful  studies  under 
him  and  his  successor  Ratgar,  whose  interest  in 
his  brilliant  pupil  was  deep  and  constant. 

Ratgar  was  soon  attracted  by  the  fame  of  Alcuin, 
and  an  old  manuscript  of  Fulda  records  the  fact 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  127 

that  in  the  year  802  he  sent  "Kabanus  along 
with  Hatto  to  Tours  unto  Master  Albinus,  for  the 
sake  of  learning  the  liberal  arts."  Kabanus  was 
not  unmindful  of  the  kindness,  and  in  some  verses 
to  Ratgar  records  his  gratitude  and  laments  his  de- 
fective memory,  but  assures  Ratgar  that  whatever 
his  master  taught  him  was  all  faithfully  committed 
to  writing.  "It  is  thy  goodness,"  he  says,  "that 
has  enabled  me  to  study  books,  but  the  poverty  of 
my  own  mind  stifles  me.  Wherefore,  whatsoever 
my  master  taught  me  by  word  of  mouth  I  committed 
entire  to  the  leaves  of  books,  lest  my  wandering 
wits  should  lose  it."  ^  As  companions  of  his  studies 
at  Tours,  Kabanus  had  Hatto,  already  mentioned, 
who  succeeded  him  as  abbat  of  Fulda,  Haymo, 
later  archbishop  of  Halberstadt,  and  Samuel,  who 
became  abbat  of  Lorsch.  He  never  forgot  his 
student  days  under  Alcuin.  In  the  preface  of  his 
encyclopedia,  On  the  Universe,  Kabanus  recalls  to 
Haymo  the  days  spent  at  Tours  "  in  the  study  of 
letters  and  meditation  on  the  Scriptures,  when  we 
read  together  not  only  the  sacred  books  and  the 
expositions  of  the  holy  fathers  thereon,  but  also 
those  acute  inquisitions  of  the  'prudent  of  this 
world '  into  the  nature  of  things,  recorded  in  their 
descriptions  of  the  liberal  arts  and  their  other 
investigations."*  Alcuin  so  highly  esteemed  his 
pupil  that  he  bestowed  on  him,  after  his  custom, 
the  special  surname  Maurus,  after  St.  Maur,  the 

1  Poem  to  Ratgar  {Carm.  XIV),  Migne,  CXII,  1600. 
s  X>e  Univerao,  Preface  to  Haymo,  Migne,  CXI,  IL 


128  ALCUIN 

favorite  pupil  of  St.  Benedict.  After  a  stay  of 
not  more  than  a  year  at  Tours,  Rabanus  returned 
to  Fulda,  and  was  at  once  put  in  charge  of  the 
abbey  school  by  Ratgar,  with  Alcuin's  full  ap- 
proval, as  may  be  inferred  from  a  short  letter^ 
he  wrote  to  Rabanus  in  the  year  803,  invoking  a 
blessing  upon  him  and  his  scholars.  But  his 
interest  did  not  cease  here,  and  a  still  later  letter 
shows  that  he  and  Rabanus  kept  up  a  close  corre- 
spondence.* 

In  this  letter  Alcuin  congratulates  Rabanus  on 
Ms  becoming  devotion  to  "sacred  wisdom"  and 

1  Ep.  251  Jaffe;  187  Migne. 

3  Litterarum  series  tuarum  Isetificavit  ocalos  meos.  Ep.  290 
Jaffe'. 

It  is  true  this  letter  of  Alcuin  is  not  directed  to  Rabanus  by 
name,  but  it  contains  indications  that  it  was  sent  to  him.  In  the 
salutation,  Alcuin  greets  his  "  dearly  beloved  son  and  pet  animal 
(animali)."  Rabanus  means  "a  raven"  (rabe),  and  the  desig- 
nation "  pet  animal "  is  in  keeping  with  a  humorous  habit  Alcuin 
had  of  playing  on  the  names  of  his  pupils  in  his  letters  to  them. 
Moreover,  the  letter  is  addressed  to  one  who  is  commended  for 
his  excellence  in  studies,  and  abounds  in  exhortations  regarding 
the  teaching  of  youth  who  are  then  subject  to  him.  Still  more 
conclusive  is  the  fact  that  the  recipient  of  the  letter  is  said  to  have 
been  "  a  fellow-disciple  of  Samuel,"  whom  Rabanus  himself  in 
one  of  his  poems  styles  the  special  sodalis  of  his  earlier  days. 
"My  beloved  brother,"  he  says  in  his  twenty-second  poem,  "  it 
was  once  my  joy  to  have  thee  as  my  companion  among  the  other 
students.  Remember  me  now  as  I  remember  you,  and  let  your 
heart  retain  and  your  conduct  exhibit  that  which  once  our 
master  Albinus  taught  us."     (Migne,  CXII,  1604.) 

Duemmler  argues  from  the  mention  of  Samuel,  without  observ- 
ing the  other  considerations,  that  the  letter  was  sent  to  Rabanus 
(Monumenta  Alcuiniana,  p.  876,  note).  Froben  inclines  to  the 
same  view  (Migne,  vol,  C,  459,  note  on  "  Samuelia  "). 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  129 

his  "love  of  learning."  In  response  to  a  previous 
request  that  Alcuin  should  write  an  account  of  his 
own  conduct  and  habits  so  that  he  might  imitate 
them,  his  master  expresses  surprise  that  he  should 
need  these.  "It  seems  a  marvel,"  he  writes,  "for 
you  to  ask  me  to  describe  my  conduct,  since  you 
were  with  me  day  and  night,  nor  was  anything 
that  I  did  ever  concealed  from  you."  He  then 
reminds  him  that  he  would  do  far  better  to  imi- 
tate the  examples  of  the  holy  men  whose  lives  are 
recorded  in  Scripture,  and  above  all  exhorts  him 
"to  seek  after  Christ  as  foretold  by  the  prophets 
and  set  forth  in  the  gospel."  "And  when  you  find 
him,"  he  continues,  "do  not  let  him  go,  but  bring 
him  into  the  house  of  your  heart  and  keep  him 
as  the  master  of  your  life."  He  also  instructs 
him  to  be  careful  of  his  office  as  a  teacher,  that  the 
gift  of  intelligence  in  him  may  be  increased;  "for 
'unto  him  that  hath  shall  be  given,'  that  is,  to  him 
that  hath  a  desire  of  teaching  shall  be  added  the 
discernment  of  understanding."  His  pupils  are 
exhorted  "  to  learn  in  their  youth,  that  they  may 
be  able  to  teach  when  they  are  old." 

Samuel  helped  Eabanus  in  his  school  work,  and 
there  were  other  assistants.  The  library  of  the 
abbey  was  greatly  enriched,  possibly  drawing  some 
of  its  books  from  Tours.  ^  In  a  poem  to  Gerhoch, 
the  librarian,  whom  Rabanus  fancifully  styles  his 
" davipotens  frater,"  or  "brother  with  the  power  of 

1  Alcuin,  Ep.  290  Jaffe.  Rabanus  asked  for  books  from 
Alcuin. 


130  ALCUm 

the  keys,"  he  describes  the  extent  of  the  library. 
"What  can  I  say,"  he  exclaims,  "  in  the  high  praise 
of  books,  —  the  books  which  you,  dear  brother, 
keep  beneath  your  key?  There  is  to  be  found 
"whatsoever  the  wisdom  of  the  world  has  published 
in  its  various  ages."  The  exaggerations  of  verse 
need  not  cause  us  to  doubt  that  the  library  was 
ample  and  one  of  the  completest  for  its  time.  A 
large  part  of  it  could  doubtless  be  reconstructed  by 
title  out  of  the  list  of  writers  quoted  by  Kabanus 
in  his  own  works.  The  importance  he  attached  to 
it  is  also  another  indication  that  he  was  following 
hard  after  the  example  Alcuin  had  set  at  Tours  in 
using  the  library  as  an  indispensable  aid  to  the 
school.  He  had  many  pupils,  and  some  of  them 
became  famous.  Such  were  Walafrid  Strabo, 
Servatus  Lupus,  Kudolph,  his  biographer,  and 
Otfried  of  Weissenburg.  It  is  probable  that  the 
whole  number  of  his  scholars  largely  exceeded 
Alcuin' s,  for  there  are  very  few  names  of  men 
eminent  in  education  during  the  next  age  which 
may  not  be  traced  back  to  Fulda  or  its  twenty- 
two  affiliated  lesser  schools.  Meanwhile  Eigil,  the 
fourth  abbat,  passed  away,  and  Kabanus  succeeded 
him  in  822.  He  then  gave  over  the  charge  of  teach- 
ing the  liberal  arts  to  others,  reserving  to  himself 
the  interpretation  of  Scripture.  His  career  as  abbat 
was  famous.  Under  his  rule  the  monastery  at  Fulda 
rapidly  increased  its  endowments,  and  the  number 
of  its  students  and  affiliated  schools.  Its  fame  for 
learning  and  sanctity  spread  through  all  of  Frank- 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  131 

land  as  well  as  Germany,  and  extended  even  to 
Italy.  Rabanus  became  the  adviser  of  kings  and 
princes,  and  even  of  the  pope,  and  was  looked  up 
to  with  special  veneration  as  being  the  one  on 
whom  the  mantle  of  Alcuin  had  fallen. 

After  ruling  the  abbey  for  twenty  years,  he 
retired  in  842.  The  brethren  urgently  sought  to 
recall  him.  But  as  he  refused,  they  elected  Hatto 
in  his  place.  Rabanus  then  went  into  retirement 
at  Petersberg  near  by,  and  devoted  his  attention 
to  meditation  and  writing.  In  847  he  was  made 
archbishop  of  Mayence,  and  died  in  the  year  856, 
in  a  neighboring  village  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine, 
whence  his  body  was  taken  back  to  Mayence  for 
burial. 

He  was  not  only  Alcuin's  greatest  pupil,  but  a 
much  greater  man  than  his  master.  He  was  made 
in  a  larger  mould.  While  a  conservative  son  of  the 
Church,  he  endeavored  to  develop  rather  than  to 
confine  the  ecclesiastical  tradition  in  education, 
and  is  entirely  lacking  in  that  timorous  shrinking 
from  everything  outside  the  traditional  limits  which 
so  cramped  Alcuin's  intellectual  exercises.  The 
heathen  weapon  of  dialectics,  which  had  been  looked 
on  as  a  dangerous  two-edged  sword,  he  grasped 
without  hesitation  to  wield  for  the  truth.  He 
recalled  grammar  from  being  a  barren  study  of 
words  and  letters  and  syllables,  and  connected  it 
again  with  the  study  of  literature.  Instead  of  treat- 
ing astronomy  as  merely  a  ready-reckoning  machine 
for  working  out  the  church  calendar,  he  urged  its 


132  ALCUm 

study  as  a  lofty  intellectual  exercise.  And  so  with 
the  other  disciplines.  Though  unable  to  disengage 
himself  from  most  of  the  prevalent  errors  of  his 
time,  he  must  be  credited  with  improving  on 
Alcuin's  treatment  of  the  liberal  arts  to  a  very 
marked  degree.  The  whole  volume  of  secular 
learning  expanded  under  his  teaching  and  yet  with- 
out prejudice  to  the  study  of  Scripture.  He  also 
contributed  distinctly  to  the  general  advance  of 
thought  which  ended  in  bringing  in  scholasticism. 
He  boldly  insisted  on  applying  the  processes  of 
reason  to  systematizing  the  facts  of  religion,  and 
in  this  occupies  a  middle  position  between  the 
irresponsible  speculative  spirit  of  Erigena  and  the 
uncritical  crudeness  of  tradition. 

The  whole  temper  of  his  mind  was  more  open 
and  courageous  than  Alcuin's.  When  he  came  to 
deal  with  natural  events,  he  did  not  childishly  seek 
to  ascribe  them  to  occult  causes,  but  referred  them 
to  the  order  of  nature  established  by  the  Creator; 
and  so,  when  a  superstitious  mob  in  his  time  sought 
to  "bring  help  to  the  waning  moon"  by  their 
cries  and  shouts,  with  the  beating  of  drums  and 
sounding  of  horns,  he  rebuked  them,  bidding  them 
remember  that  the  regular  changes  and  even  the 
portents  in  the  skies  were  all  the  work  of  a  wise 
Creator  who  was  able  to  manage  the  world  he  had 
made.  There  was  also  in  him,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  marked  generosity  and  sympathy.  He 
was  more  than  once  reproved  for  being  over-liberal 
to  the  poor,  and  in  the  time  of  famine  exerted 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  133 

himself  unsparingly  to  relieve  the  distress.  The 
only  instance  of  unjust  severity  to  another  that 
attaphes  to  his  name  was  the  flogging  of  the  monk 
Gotteschalk  by  his  order  for  heretical  teaching 
touching  the  doctrine  of  predestination.  But,  set- 
ting this  aside,  Rabanus,  though  a  strict  discipli- 
narian, was  likewise  a  humane  man  through  all  his 
life.  He  was  also  prudent,  for  in  the  midst  of 
bloody  dissensions  and  plots  that  thickened  around 
the  successors  of  Charles  the  Great,  and  the  vio- 
lent internal  strife  which  rent  his  own  monastery 
before  he  became  abbat,  he  so  deported  himself  as 
to  preserve  the  regard  of  every  faction.  Taken  as 
a  whole,  the  personality  of  Rabanus  charms  us  by 
its  independence  and  vigor,  tempered,  as  it  was,  by 
humanity,  good  sense,  and  a  loyal  respect  for  the 
Church  he  served. 

On  the  educational  side,  however,  his  activity  as 
a  teacher  and  a  writer  chiefly  call  for  notice,  and 
both  of  these  are  seen  to  the  best  advantage  in 
his  important  educational  works,  which  deserve 
separate  and  somewhat  detailed  examination. 

His  works,  which  have  come  to  us  substantially 
entire,  are  indeed  voluminous,  being  collectively  at 
least  three  times  greater  in  extent  than  those  of  his 
teacher  Alcuin,  and  ominously  suggest  the  monu- 
mental vastness  of  the  scholastic  writings  yet  to 
come.  Most  of  his  writings,  perhaps  seven-eighths  in 
all,  are  theological,  being  devoted  chiefly  to  a  series 
of  elaborate  commentaries,  expositions,  and  "  narra- 
tions "  on  thirty-three  books  of  the  Old  and  New 


131  ALCUIN 

Testament,  including  a  complete  explanation,  lit- 
eral, allegorical,  and  mystical,  of  the  Pentateuch 
and  nearly  all  the  historical  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  together  with  Proverbs,  Jeremiah  and 
Ezekiel,  as  well  as  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  and  all 
the  epistles  of  St.  Paul.  In  all  this  he  was  only 
following  after  the  ideal  that  was  ever  before  him 
of  acquainting  himself  and  others  with  the  whole 
plenitude  of  Scripture.  For  "in  the  knowledge 
of  Holy  Scripture,"  as  he  writes  in  his  book  On 
the  Instruction  of  the  Clergy,  "is  the  foundation, 
the  establishment  and  the  perfecting  of  wisdom."* 
Herein  is  contained  the  wisdom  that  flows  from 
the  eternal  and  unchangeable  Wisdom,  even  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Most  High  himself.  It  is  "  first- 
born before  all  other  creatures."  The  unfailing 
light  that  burns  within  the  Scriptures  "streams 
forth  over  all  the  world  as  though  let  out  from 
a  lantern."  By  that  light  he  studied,  devoting 
his  long  life  to  a  whole-souled  and  untiring  at- 
tempt to  set  forth  their  supreme  excellency. 

But  in  addition  to  his  theological  writings,  Ra- 
banus  composed  several  treatises  which  bear  in 
whole  or  in  part  on  education.  These  are  the 
works,  On  the  Instruction  of  the  Clergy,  On  Reckon- 
ing, An  Excerpt  on  the  Chrammatical  Art  of  Priscian, 
On  the  Universe  (which  may  equally  well  be 
entitled  On  Everything^,  a  short  Latin- Tudesque 
Glossary,  and  a  tract  On  the  Origin  of  Languages. 
Perhaps  to  these  should  be  added  his  short  Treatise 

1  j)e  Clericorum  Institutione,  III,  cap.  2. 


RABANUS  AND   OTHER  PUPILS  136 

on  the  Soul,  which,  like  Alcuin's  on  the  same  sub- 
ject, is  based  on  Augustine. 

His  work  On  the  Instruction  of  the  Clergy  *  was 
written  in  the  year  819  in  response  to  urgent 
requests  from  the  monks  of  Fulda  and  others  that 
he  should  compose  a  compendium  of  the  things 
most  necessary  for  the  clergy  to  know.  It  is  divided 
into  three  books.  The  first  deals  with  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Church,  its  orders  of  clergy,  its  vest- 
ments and  sacraments.  The  second  describes  the 
round  of  ecclesiastical  duties,  the  feasts  and  fasts 
of  the  year,  and  parts  of  the  church  service,  includ- 
ing also  some  notice  of  the  books  of  Scripture,  the 
orthodox  creed  and  the  various  opposing  heresies. 
The  third  book,  as  Rabanus  states,  "teaches  how 
all  that  is  written  in  the  sacred  books  is  to  be 
searched  and  studied,  as  well  as  those  things  in  the 
arts  and  studies  of  the  heathen  which  are  useful 
for  an  ecclesiastic  to  inquire  into."  ^ 

It  is  this  third  book  which  has  educational  inter- 
est, for,  although  primarily  intended  as  a  manual 
for  the  education  of  clergy,  it  contains  much  that 
relates  to  secular  learning.  The  book  opens  with 
the  proposition  that  any  one  who  would  fulfil  the 
sacred  clerical  duties  ought  to  be  a  man  of  "pleni- 
tude of  knowledge,  rectitude  of  life  and  perfection 
of  erudition."  Rabanus  goes  on  to  define  this  more 
fully  by  saying,  "  Such  an  one  should  not  be  allowed 

1  De  Clericorum  Institutione  in  Migne's  Patrologia  Latina, 
CVII,  29^-419. 

a  De  Clericorum  Institutione,  Frsefatio. 


186  ALCUm 

to  be  ignorant  of  any  of  those  things  wherein  it 
will  be  his  duty  to  instruct  both  himself  and  those 
who  are  subject  to  him,  that  is,  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, of  the  clear  truth  of  history,  of  the  modes  of 
figurative  speech,  of  the  signification  of  mystical 
things,  of  the  utility  of  all  the  disciplines,  of 
uprightness  of  life  and  probity  of  morals,  of  ele- 
gance in  the  delivery  of  discourses,  of  wisdom  in 
the  setting  forth  of  doctrines  and  of  the  different 
remedies  suited  to  the  variety  of  spiritual  dis- 
eases."^ His  educated  man  is,  therefore,  to  be 
conversant  with  Scripture,  with  history,  with  an 
understanding  of  the  figures  of  speech  and  the 
mystical  sense  of  things,  and  of  all  the  useful 
knowledge  in  the  different  liberal  disciplines.  Be- 
sides this,  he  is  to  be  a  man  of  probity  in  life  and 
especially  accomplished  in  rhetoric  and  dialectics. 
"  One  who  does  not  know  these  things  is  not  only 
unable  to  be  useful  to  others,  but  even  to  himself. 
Therefore  it  is  needful  that  the  future  ruler  of  a 
people,  while  he  has  leisure,  should  prepare  in 
advance  the  weapons  whereby  he  may  bravely 
conquer  the  enemy  and  defend  the  flock  committed 
to  him.  For  it  is  a  base  thing  that  one  who  has 
been  appointed  a  pastor  of  souls  should  only  begin 
to  desire  to  learn  at  the  time  when  he  ought  to  be 
ready  to  teach,  and  it  is  a  perilous  thing  for  any 
one  to  take  up  the  burden  of  a  ruler  if  he  cannot 
•  ably  support  that  burden  by  the  strength  of  his 
own  wisdom."      And  then  comes   one   of  those 

^  De  CUricorum  Inttitutione,  I,  !» 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  137 

golden  sentences  wherein  we  hear  Kabanus  at  his 
best.  "Let  no  one  dare  to  teach  any  art,  unless 
he  has  first  learned  it  by  prolonged  study."*  The 
imperative  tone  was  needed,  for  he  was  waging 
relentless  war  against  the  promotion  of  ignorant 
clergy  to  posts  of  honor.  "There  are  some,"  he 
says,  "  who  within  the  Church  itself  seek  promotion 
solely  from  ambition.  As  the  Scripture  attests,  it 
is  they  who  covet  the  first  salutations  in  the  market- 
place, the  chief  places  at  feasts,  and  the  chief  seats 
in  the  synagogues.  .  .  .  They  are  the  ignorant 
shepherds  who  are  reproved  by  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
saying,  'These  are  shepherds  that  cannot  under- 
stand.' By  reason  of  their  ignorance,  those  who 
follow  them  stumble,  and  hence  in  the  gospel 
Christ  the  Truth  saith,  'If  the  blind  lead  the  blind, 
tiey  shall  both  fall  into  the  ditch.'"  By  such 
scriptural  exhortation  and  illustration  Eabanus 
develops  the  opening  chapter  of  the  third  book, 
and  prepares  the  way  for  setting  forth  the  educa- 
tion needed  for  the  elevation  of  the  clergy. 

He  then  proceeds  in  the  second  chapter  to  explain 
that  knowledge  of  Holy  Scripture  is  both  the  begin- 
ning and  the  completion  of  wisdom,  because  Scrip- 
ture is  the  highest  utterance  of  God  himself,  the 
eternal  Wisdom.  Whatever  truth  there  may  be 
elsewhere,  whether  in  the  Church  or  out  of  it,  has 
its  source,  it  is  true,  in  the  same  eternal  Wisdom 
from  which  the  Scriptures  come.     But  as  Scripture 

1  Nulla  ars  doceri  prsesumator,  nisi  prios  intenta  meditatione 
discator.    I,  L 


188  ALCUm 

is  the  transcendent  and  highest  utterance  of  the 
Divine  Wisdom,  so  is  it  superior  to  the  wisdom 
found  in  the  Church  or  in  the  world  outside.  Yet  as 
all  truth  has  one  source  he  goes  on  to  say :  "  What- 
ever truth  there  may  be  anywhere  is  to  be  known  as 
truth  by  bringing  it  to  a  test  of  truth,  and  what- 
ever good  there  is  anywhere  is  discovered  to  be 
good  by  a  standard  of  goodness.  Nor  are  the  true 
and  wise  things  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  books 
of  the  'prudent  of  this  world '  to  be  attributed  to 
any  other  source  than  truth  and  wisdom  itself, 
because  these  truths  were  not  constructed  originally 
by  those  in  whose  writings  they  are  found,  but 
were  truths  existing  from  eternity  which  they 
merely  discovered.  For  Truth  and  Wisdom,  the 
teacher  and  enlightener  of  all,  granted  them  the 
power  to  search  them  out.  Therefore,  all  the  use- 
ful knowledge  that  lies  in  the  books  of  the  heathen, 
and  the  salutary  truths  of  Scripture  as  well,  are  to 
be  used  for  one  purpose  and  referred  to  one  end, 
that  is,  the  perfect  knowledge  of  truth  and  the 
highest  excellence  of  wisdom."  This  is  Augustine 
revived  in  his  most  generous  mood,  speaking  by  the 
voice  of  Kabanus.  The  cramping  and  shrinking 
of  Alcuin's  spirit  is  no  longer  here,  and  in  such  a 
passage  as  this  Rabanus  when  compared  with  him 
seems  a  giant.  The  book  then  goes  on  to  explain 
the  spirit  and  method  of  studying  the  Scriptures, 
closely  following  the  treatise  of  Augustine  On 
Christian  Doctrine.^ 

I  De  Clericoirum  Institutione,  m,  cap.  15,  at  the  end. 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  139 

Beginning  at  the  sixteenth  chapter,  eleven  succes- 
sive chapters  are  devoted  to  secular  learning,  a  sepa- 
rate one  being  assigned  to  each  of  the  seven  liberal 
arts.  Kabanus  first  distinguishes  between  the  fun- 
damentally true  things  of  ancient  secular  learning 
and  the  false  inventions  which  were  attached  to  it. 
Such  were  all  magic  arts,  the  worship  of  idols,  the 
taking  of  omens,  astrological  calculations,  and  the 
other  varieties  of  "pernicious  superstition."  On 
the  other  hand  the  body  of  human  learning,  which 
is  so  needful  for  our  life  here  below,  is  by  no 
means  to  be  despised  by  a  Christian.  Nay,  he 
insists,  it  should  be  "studied  and  held  firmly  in 
mind,"  and  whoso  does  this  will  understand,  the 
more  he  studies,  that  the  whole  of  truth  taken  as 
one  redounds  to  the  "honor  and  love  of  one  God."* 
His  following  account  of  the  liberal  arts  separately 
is  of  distinct  interest.  Grammar  he  defines  as 
"the  science  of  interpreting  the  poets  and  his- 
torians, and  the  art  of  correct  writing  and  speak- 
ing. It  is  the  foundation  of  the  liberal  arts." 
Alcuin  had  confined  grammar  to  the  explanation 
of  how  to  write  and  speak  correctly.  Eabanus 
adds  to  this  narrow  formal  side  the  literary  side, 
which  was  included  in  the  broader  definition  of  the 
Roman  grammarians,  and  thereby  rescues  it  from 
the  barrenness  to  which  it  had  been  reduced  by  the 
treatment  of  Alcuin.  However,  he  extols  the 
Christian   against  the  classical  poets,    and  cites 

1  Ad  tinius  Dei  laudem  atque  dilectionem  concta  convertere. 
m,  cap.  17. 


J40  ALCUIN 

Juvencus,  Sedulius,  Arator,  Alcimus,  Clement, 
Paulinus,  and  Fortunatus^  as  "writers  of  famous 
books."  He  allows  with  restriction  the  reading  of 
classical  poets,  mainly  for  the  sake  of  their  "  flowers 
of  eloquence."  "  And  so  when  we  read  the  heathen 
poets,  and  the  books  of  secular  wisdom  come  into 
our  hands,"  he  writes  by  way  of  general  conclusion, 
"let  us  turn  to  our  own  instruction  whatever  we 
find  useful  in  them;  but  if  there  be  anything 
superfluous  concerning  idols  or  love  or  the  care  of 
secular  things,"  all  such  passages  are  to  be  passed 
by  or  expunged. 

The  chapter  on  rhetoric  contains  little  of  special 
note,  but  the  next  one  on  dialectics  is  important. 
"Dialectics,"  according  to  his  definition,  "is  the 
rational  discipline  concerned  with  definitions  and 
explanations,  and  able  even  to  separate  truth  from 
falsehood."  Such  an  utterance  is  in  marked  con- 
trast with  Alcuin,  who  would  never  have  counte- 
nanced so  bold  and  sweeping  an  assertion  of  the 
sufficiency  of  dialectics  as  a  means  of  discerning 
between  truth  and  error;  but  Rabanus  waxes  very 
bold  and  asserts  further  that  "this  is  accordingly 
the  discipline  of  disciplines.  It  teaches  us  how  to 
teach  and  how  to  learn.  In  this  Reason  reveals 
herself,  and  shows  clearly  what  she  is,  what  she 
means  and  what  she  perceives.  This  discipline 
alone  knows  how  to  know,  and  is  both  willing 
and  able  to  make  others  know.      For  when  we 

1  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  all  these  i>oet8  are  in  Alcmn's 
list  of  the  books  at  York.    See  pages  34  and  35. 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  141 

reason  with  it,  we  learn  what  we  are  and  whence 
we  are.  We  understand  the  difference  between  a 
good-doer  and  a  good  deed,  between  a  creator  and 
a  creature.  We  investigate  truth;  we  fasten  on 
error.  By  this  we  reason  and  discern  between  what 
follows  and  what  does  not  follow;  what  is  incon- 
sistent, what  is  true,  and  what  is  probable,  as  well 
as  what  is  thoroughly  false." 

While  Eabanus  cannot  be  credited,  as  some  have 
supposed,  with  an  important  advance  on  Boethius 
and  with  consciously  opening  up  the  dialectical 
activity  of  the  early  Middle  Ages,  it  is  yet  true  that 
his  enthusiastic  commendation  of  dialectics  was 
influential  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  reign  of 
logic  later.  ^  Of  course  such  a  weapon  as  Kabanus 
defined  dialectics  to  be,  must  have  eminent  value 
for  the  Church.  "  Wherefore,"  he  says,  "the  clergy 
ought  to  know  this  most  noble  art  and  to  have  its 
laws  constantly  before  them  in  meditation,  that 
they  may  be  able  to  penetrate  with  subtlety  into  the 
craftiness  of  the  heretics,  and  confute  their  opin- 
ions by  the  magical  conclusions  of  syllogisms." 
His  speculative  contemporary,  Scotus  Erigena, 
could  have  asked  little  more.  Yet  Rabanus  guards 
himself  by  distinguishing  between  what  he  calls 
sophisms  and  truths.  "There  are  true  modes,"  he 
says,  "  of  connecting  not  only  true  but  even  false 

1  So  aiisserte  die  Schule  welche  Hrabanus  bekanntlich  in 
Fulda  eingerichtet  liatte  .  .  .  auch  auf  den  Betrieb  der  Logik 
einen  hochst  giinstigen  Einfluss.  — Prantl,  Geschichte  der  Logik^ 
U,40. 


142  ALCUIN 

opinions.  Now,  these  true  modes  of  connection 
may  be  learned  in  the  schools  which  are  outside 
the  Church,  but  the  truth  of  opinions  is  to  be  stud- 
ied in  the  holy  books  of  the  Church."  The  forms 
of  logic  may  be  learned  outside,  but  the  substance 
of  truth  necessary  for  arriving  at  a  sound  conclu- 
sion can  be  learned  only  in  books  of  the  Church. 
And  here,  after  all,  is  where  his  use  of  dialectics 
differs  from  that  of  Erigena.  Eabanus  would  never 
have  approved  using  Plato  and  Martianus  Capella 
for  substance  of  doctrine  equal  in  value  with  Script- 
ure, as  Erigena  did.  And  he  was  consistent,  for  after 
once  asserting  that  the  Scriptures  are  the  highest 
form  of  truth  and  that  other  truths  are  to  be  inter- 
preted in  their  light,  the  material  for  his  reasoning 
was  unchangeably  defined  and  estimated  in  advance. 
After  thus  treating  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  dialec- 
tics, he  proceeds  to  describe  the  four  remaining  arts, 
which  he  includes,  following  a  common  custom, 
under  the  general  name  of  mathematics.  The  first 
of  the  four  is  arithmetic,  "  the  study  of  numerical 
quantity,"  pure  and  simple.  It  is,  as  he  shows,  the 
fundamental  "mathematical  discipline,"  without 
knowledge  of  which  neither  music,  nor  geometry, 
nor  astronomy  can  be  pursued.  A  Christian  is  not  to 
despise  this  secular  study,  for  does  not  Josephus, 
that  most  learned  Jew,  relate  how  Abraham  was  the 
first  to  deliver  both  the  arithmetical  and  astronomi- 
cal art  to  the  Egyptians?  The  seed  of  this  knowl- 
edge, which  the  father  of  the  faithful  sowed  among 
them,  they  cultivated  and  also  developed  therefrom 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  143 

the  other  disciplines.  Then,  too,  the  Church  fathers 
strongly  commend  the  study  of  arithmetic,  inas- 
much as  it  abstracts  the  mind  from  carnal  desires 
by  leading  it  to  abstract  meditation.  Scripture, 
too,  commends  the  study  in  many  places.  God 
himself  made  the  world  "by  measure  and  weight 
and  number,"  as  we  read  in  the  Book  of  Wisdom. 
Nay,  more :  "  the  very  hairs  of  our  head  are  num- 
bered," as  the  gospel  explicitly  asserts.  Then 
there  are  the  writings  of  Plato,  "of  great  author- 
ity," though  less  than  Scripture,  which  represent 
to  us  the  Creator  building  the  universe  according 
to  numerical  harmonies  and  proportions.  Another 
consideration  is  to  be  found  in  the  mystical  signifi- 
cance of  particular  numbers  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture. "Thus,"  says  Eabanus,  "six  is  a  perfect 
number,  for  did  not  God  make  the  world  in  six 
days?"  And  yet  he  audaciously  observes:  "We 
are  not  to  say  that  the  number  six  is  perfect  because 
God  accomplished  his  work  of  creation  in  six  days, 
but  that  he  accomplished  the  work  in  six  days 
because  six  is  a  perfect  number.  Nay,  even  if  his 
work  had  not  been  finished  in  six  days,  yet  would 
the  number  still  be  a  perfect  one."  Now,  the  Bible 
is  really  a  sealed  book  to  many  because  of  their 
ignorance  of  arithmetic.  "Wherefore,"  he  writes, 
"it  is  needful,  if  any  one  would  arrive  at  the 
knowledge  of  Holy  Scripture,  that  he  should  study 
this  art  intently,  so  that  when  he  has  learned  it  he 
may  the  easier  understand  the  mystical  numbers  in 
the  sacred  books."    Alcuin  would  have  commended 


144  ALCUIN 

heartily  this  exposition  of  arithmetic  in  general. 
Yet  in  two  respects  it  departs  from  Alcuin,  foi 
Plato  is  quoted  as  "of  great  authority,"  though 
with  some  reserve,  and  a  "  perfect  number  "  is  rep- 
resented as  something  regulative  of  the  activity 
of  God  himself.  Thus  already  in  the  barren  field 
of  arithmetic,  as  well  as  in  dialectics,  the  shoots  of 
speculation  were  beginning  to  spring  up. 

The  account  of  geometry  indicates  that  Rabanus 
had  been  reading  one  of  Erigena's  favorite  books, 
the  Latin  translation  by  Chalcidius  of  the  TimcBus 
of  Plato.  "The  philosophers,"  he  says,  "testify 
in  their  writings  that  Jupiter  geometrizes."  He 
prudently  remarks  that,  "  if  this  saying  be  applied 
wisely  to  God,  the  omnipotent  Creator,  it  may  per- 
haps be  congruent  with  truth ;  for  geometry,  if  we 
may  be  allowed  to  say  so,  has  a  holy  divinity  of  its 
own,  inasmuch  as  it  imposes  its  various  forms  and 
models  on  creation,  and  maintains  it  in  existence  up 
to  the  present  day."  The  courses  of  the  stars  and 
the  "fixed  linear"  (statutis  lineis)  constitution  of 
bodies  in  motion  or  at  rest  are  cited  as  examples  of 
the  sancta  divinitas  of  geometry.  Its  origin  as  an 
art  is  referred  to  the  Egyptians,  and  Varro,  "the 
most  learned  of  the  Latins,"  is  cited  to  prove  that 
geometry  began  with  mensuration.  A  considera- 
tion which  makes  it  acceptable  to  a  Christian  is, 
that  it  was  used  in  building  the  tabernacle  and 
the  temple,  in  constructing  which  there  was  evi- 
dent need  "of  the  measurement  of  the  line,  the 
circle,  the  sphere,  the  hemisphere,  and  also  of  the 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  146 

quadrangle."  Lastly,  "an  acquaintance  with  all 
geometrical  figures  is  of  help  towards  spiritual 
discernment." 

Music  is  defined  as  "  the  discipline  which  treats 
of  the  numbers  which  pertain  to  it,  that  is,  of  those 
which  occur  in  sounds."  "One  sound,"  for  exam- 
ple, "  is  the  double,  the  treble,  or  the  quadruple  of 
another."  Music  is  so  useful  that  without  it  the 
church  service  cannot  be  fully  performed,  inasmuch 
as  not  only  pleasant  modulation  in  singing  but 
proper  pronunciation  in  reading  call  for  musical 
skill.  It  is  also  noble  as  well  as  useful.  For 
"  the  heaven  and  the  earth  and  all  that  are  in  them 
are  ruled  by  harmony,  Pythagoras  testifying  that 
the  world  was  created  according  to  the  harmonies 
of  music,  and  is  governed  by  the  same."  Pythag- 
oras, however,  is  not  the  only  authority.  The  art 
of  music  is  blended  with  the  Christian  religion, 
and  ignorance  of  music  is  an  impediment  to  faith. 
Ko  heed  is  to  be  paid  to  the  heathen  superstitions 
which  make  the  Muses  daughters  of  Jove.  The 
learned  Varro,  a  heathen  himself,  has  refuted  this 
notion,  showing  that  Jove  was  not  the  father  of  the 
Muses.  But  whether  Varro's  opinion  be  true  or 
not  makes  little  difference,  "for  we  ought  not  to 
avoid  music,  the  art  of  the  Muses,  because  of  pro- 
fane superstitions,  so  long  as  it  is  possible  to  extract 
from  it  useful  help  for  understanding  Holy 
Scripture."  The  folly  of  such  a  course  would  be 
as  great  as  a  refusal  to  learn  letters  because  the 
heathen  said  Mercury  was  the  god  of  letters,  or  to 


146  ALCUIN 

refuse  to  practice  justice  and  virtue  because  they 
dedicated  temples  to  Justice  and  Virtue.  "  On  the 
contrary,"  says  Rabanus,  echoing  Augustine,  "let 
every  good  and  true  Christian  know  that  all  truth, 
wherever  he  finds  it,  belongs  to  his  Lord." 

The  exposition  of  astronomy,  which  next  follows, 
is  lighted  up  with  an  enthusiasm  almost  as  great 
as  appears  in  the  account  of  dialectics.  His  open- 
ing statement  is  impressive.  "If  we  pursue  this 
study  with  chastened  and  moderate  spirit,  it  will, 
as  the  ancients  say,  fill  our  thoughts  with  deep  and 
reverent  love.  How  great  a  thing  it  is  to  approach  in 
spirit  to  the  heavens,  —  to  explore  all  their  supernal 
mechanism  by  rational  investigation,  and  by  lofty 
intellectual  insight  to  observe  anywhere  and  every- 
where the  veiled  secrets  of  their  vast  greatness !  " 
How  feeble  and  poverty-stricken,  in  the  light  of 
such  a  conception  as  this,  is  the  interminable  astro- 
nomical correspondence  of  Alcuin,  which  makes 
of  astronomy  a  cumbrous  machine  for  calculating 
the  church  feasts !  Not  that  Rabanus  refuses  the 
determination  of  the  church  calendar  a  place  in 
astronomy.  On  the  contrary,  he  expressly  includes 
it  therein.  But  astronomy  is  far  more  to  him.  It 
is  the  study  of  the  "  law  of  the  stars,  which  know 
not  either  how  to  move  or  stop  other  wise  than  as 
the  Creator  has  ordained." 

The  seven  arts  have  now  passed  in  review. 
"Here,"  he  says,  "are  the  seven  liberal  arts  of 
the  philosophers."  The  "seven  liberal  arts"!  It 
is  apparently  the  first  instance  in  history  of  the 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  147 

use  of  the  term.  Christianity  has  at  last  suc- 
ceeded after  centuries  in  converting  the  artes 
liberales  of  the  ancients  into  the  septem  artes  liber- 
ales.  The  change  of  feeling  from  antagonism  to 
toleration,  and  then  into  friendly  regard,  slowly 
outworking  in  Western  Christendom  from  the  time 
of  Augustine  and  Cassiodorus  onward,  ends  with 
the  adoption  of  the  liberal  arts  and  the  concurrent 
prefixing  of  a  Christian  name  to  them.  So  in 
closing  his  account  Rabanus  commends  them  in 
general  as  "useful  for  all  Christians."  He  goes 
even  farther,  and  adds  that  "anything  the  phi- 
losophers have  written  that  is  true  and  agreeable  to 
faith,  especially  the  Platonic  philosophers"  (he 
was  not  always  quite  ready  to  say  Plato)  "  is  not  to 
be  viewed  with  alarm,  but  to  be  taken  from  them 
for  our  own  use."  By  way  of  further  enforcement, 
he  repeats  what  Augustine  had  said  about  taking 
the  gold  and  the  silver  of  the  Egyptians  and  avoid- 
ing their  superstitions*  and  idolatry.  As  a  final 
and  supreme  caution,  he  reminds  those  who  have 
been  instructed  in  the  liberal  arts  to  approach  the 
higher  study  of  the  Scriptures  ever  remembering 
the  apostolic  watchword,  Scientia  inflat,  charitas 
mdijkat "  ("  knowledge  puffeth  up,  but  love  build- 
ethup"). 

The  rest  of  the  work  is  devoted  to  miscellaneous 
instruction  on  the  art  of  speaking  wisely  and  elo- 
quently, with  special  reference  to  preaching.  His 
remarks  in  the  thirtieth  chapter  on  the  need  of 
using  language  easily  comprehended  when  speaking 


148  AliCUIN 

to  the  people  "  miglit  well  have  been  inscribed  in 
letters  of  gold  on  every  pulpit  from  his  own  to  the 
present  day."  *  They  might  equally  well  be  in- 
scribed on  every  teacher's  desk.  "  Although  a  good 
teacher,"  he  says,  "ought  to  be  so  careful  in  his 
teaching  that  he  will  not  consider  an  obscure  or 
ambiguous  word  to  be  good  Latin,  still,  while  avoid- 
ing ambiguities  and  obscurities,  let  him  speak  after 
the  fashion  of  the  people,  and  not  as  the  educated  but 
as  the  uneducated  speak.  For  of  what  value  is  that 
excellence  of  expression  which  the  intellect  of  the 
hearer  does  not  follow  and  which  they  do  not  under- 
stand to  whom  we  are  speaking  in  order  that  they 
may  understand?  Therefore,  let  him  who  teaches 
avoid  all  words  that  do  not  teach.  ^  So  then,  if  he 
can  find  other  excellent  words  which  will  be  under- 
stood, let  him  choose  such;  but  if  he  cannot,  either 
because  there  are  no  such  words  or  because  they 
do  not  occur  to  him  at  the  time,  let  him  use  words 
that  are  less  excellent,  provided  only  the  thing 
itself  be  taught  and  learned  excellently."  His 
reasons  are  no  less  sensible  than  his  injunctions. 
"We  must  insist  on  being  understood,"' he  says, 
"  not  only  when  we  converse  with  one  or  a  few  per- 
sons, but  much  more  when  we  speak  in  public,  for 
in  conversation  every  one  has  an  opportunity  to 
question  us,  but  where  all  sit  in  silence  listening 

1  Mullinger,  Schools  of  Charles  the  Great,  p.  145. 
3  Qui  ergo  docet,  vitabit  verba  omnia  quae  non  docent.    m, 
cap.  30. 

'  Ut  intelligamur  instandum  est.    Ill,  cap.  30. 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  149 

to  one  speaker,  it  is  neither  right  nor  decent  to 
hold  any  auditor  responsible  for  what  he  has  not 
understood.  For  this  reason  he  who  speaks  ought 
to  make  it  his  care  to  help  him  who  silently  lis- 
tens. Now,  an  audience  that  is  anxious  to  learn 
is  apt  to  show  by  its  own  behavior  whether 
it  really  understands  or  not.  Until  it  does 
understand  we  should  keep  presenting  the  point 
at  issue  in  various  ways.  Those  who  teach  only 
what  they  have  prepared  and  committed  word  by 
word  to  memory  have  not  the  power  to  accomplish 
this.  Then  when  it  is  clear  that  the  point  is 
understood,  continue  the  discourse  and  pass  to  the 
other  points,  for  as  he  who  makes  clear  what  we 
wish  to  know  is  an  acceptable  teacher,  so  he 
becomes  burdensome  when  inculcating  what  we 
already  know."^ 

There  is  a  statement  in  Trithemius,'  a  late  biogra- 
pher of  Kabanus,  that  he  wrote  while  a  youth  PrcB- 
paramenta,  or  hand-books  of  the  seven  liberal  arts 
"in  many  volumes."  In  the  writings  which  have 
come  to  us,  however,  there  are  only  two  treatises 
on  separate  arts,  and  it  is  not  certain  that  they  are 
part  of  the  Prceparamenta  mentioned  by  Trithemius. 
However,  as  treatises  on  two  of  the  arts,  they  may 
be  noticed  here.  One  is  entitled  An  Excerpt  on  the 
Grammatical  Art  of  Priscian.  It  consists  of  extracts 
from  the  grammar  of  Priscian  copied  bodily  with- 

1  Sicnt  enim  gratns  est  qui  agnoscenda  enubilat,  sic  onerosus, 
qui  cognita  inculcat.    Ill,  cap.  30. 

3  Migne,  Patrologia  Latina,  CVII,  103. 


150  ALCUm 

out  indication  of  any  authorship  on  the  part  of 
Rabanus,  apart  from  a  short  poem  added  at  the 
end.  The  other  treatise  is  entitled  On  Reckoning 
(Computus),  and  consists  of  ninety-six  short  chap- 
ters. It  is  the  work  of  Eabanus,  and  was  written 
in  the  year  820.  Like  some  of  Alcuin's  writings, 
it  is  cast  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue  between  a 
master  and  his  pupil.  Augustine,  Boethius,  and 
Isidore  are  quoted  in  it,  but  Bede  is  the  author 
most  used  in  its  preparation.  The  first  eight  chap- 
ters deal  with  the  importance  of  numbers,  the 
definition  of  the  term  "  number  "  itself,  the  different 
kinds  of  numbers,  treated  grammatically  rather  than 
mathematically,  —  numbers  being  defined  as  cardi- 
nal, ordinal,  adverbial,  distributive,  multiple,  and 
"  denuntiative."  Then  follow  the  two  different  reck- 
onings, by  letters  and  on  the  fingers.  Notation  is 
given  both  according  to  the  Greek  and  the  Roman 
numeral  letters  while  the  finger-reckoning  de- 
scribed is  one  of  the  curiosities  in  educational  his- 
tory. The  method  of  counting  with  the  fingers  is 
explained  as  follows:  On  the  left  hand  there  are 
three  fingers, the  little  finger  {auricularis),the  fourth 
finger  (medicus),  and  the  third  finger  (impudicus) . 
Accordingly  the  digits  from  one  to  nine  can  be 
counted  by  beginning  with  bending  the  little  finger 
toward  the  palm,  and  so  proceeding  to  make  other 
number-gestures  in  sequence  with  the  three  fingers. 
Besides  the  three  fingers  mentioned,  there  are  the 
index  fins^er  and  the  thumb,  and  by  various  flex- 
ions of  these  the  tens  are  indicated  from  ten  to 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  151 

ninety,  so  that  with  the  left  hand  alone  every 
number  short  of  one  hundred  could  be  counted. 
Then  there  is  the  right  hand,  where  the  counting 
begins  with  the  thumb  and  the  index  finger,  and 
then  proceeds  to  the  three  other  fingers, — just  the 
reverse  of  the  method  used  in  counting  on  the  left 
hand.  The  right-hand  thumb  and  finger  are  used 
by  various  flexions  to  indicate  the  hundreds  from 
one  hundred  to  nine  hundred,  and  the  three  other 
fingers  on  the  right  hand  are  used  similarly  to 
indicate  the  thousands  from  one  thousand  to  nine 
thousand.  Thus,  if  the  two  hands  be  spread  out, 
palms  down,  units  will  be  reckoned  from  the  left 
on  the  little  finger,  the  fourth  finger,  and  the  third 
finger  of  the  left  hand ;  tens  will  be  reckoned  on 
the  index  finger  and  thumb  of  the  left  hand;  hun- 
dreds on  the  thumb  and  index  finger  of  the  right 
hand;  thousands  on  the  other  three  fingers  of  the 
right  hand.  Accordingly,  the  two  hands  taken 
together  could  be  used  to  count  up  to  any  number 
short  of  ten  thousand.  This  notation  by  finger 
flexion  was  extended  still  further  by  placing  the 
left  hand  in  various  ways  on  different  parts  of  the 
body,  and  so  counting  by  tens  of  thousands,  from 
ten  thousand  to  ninety  thousand;  and  in  the  same 
way  the  right  hand  when  placed  opposite  corre- 
sponding parts  of  the  body  enabled  counting  to  be 
done  by  the  hundred-thousand,  from  one  hundred 
thousand  up  to  nine  hundred  thousand.  An  exam- 
ple or  two  of  this  barbarous  method  may  be  given. 
"When  you  say  one,"  observes  the  master  to  his 


152  ALCUIN 

pupil,  "bend  the  little  finger  on  the  left  hand 
slightly  inward  and  place  it  in  the  palm."  "When 
you  say  ten,  put  the  tip  of  the  index  finger  against 
the  middle  of  the  thumb."  Of  course,  eleven  would 
be  counted  by  doing  both  of  these  at  once  or  in 
succession.  In  the  same  way  a  hundred  is  indi- 
cated on  the  right  hand  by  putting  the  tip  of  the 
index  finger  against  the  middle  of  the  thumb,  just 
as  ten  was  counted  on  the  left  hand.  A  thousand 
is  indicated  with  the  little  finger  of  the  right  hand 
as  one  was  indicated  with  the  little  finger  of  the  left 
hand.  Any  number  short  of  ten  thousand  could 
therefore  be  counted  by  the  two  hands  without  refer- 
ence to  the  other  parts  of  the  body.  For  numbers 
from  ten  thousand  upwards,  a  different  method  is 
used,  as  mentioned  above.  Ten  thousand  is  indicated 
by  placing  the  left  hand  flat  on  the  breast,  but  with 
the  fingers  pointing  upwards ;  and  twenty  thousand, 
with  the  same  hand  spread  out  flat  across  the  chest; 
sixty  thousand,  with  the  same  hand  flat  against  the 
left  thigh.  The  hundred-thousands  are  indicated 
in  a  similar  manner  with  the  right  hand.  Conse- 
quently, by  a  series  of  gestures  any  number  short 
of  a  million  may  be  indicated.  The  two  hands 
clasped  together  in  front,  with  the  fingers  inter- 
twined, is  the  gesture  for  a  million,  which  is  the 
highest  number  of  this  digital  reckoning.  That 
such  a  system  of  gesture-numbers  should  have 
been  deemed  worthy  of  record  and  explanation 
by  Rabanus  for  the  benefit  of  the  monks  at  Fulda 
is  sad  evidence  of  the  crass  ignorance  that  was 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  153 

prevalent.  Counting  on  the  fingers,  the  mode  of 
reckoning  in  vogue  among  the  lowest  savages, 
awkward,  cumbrous,  devoid  of  any  but  the  rudest 
intellectual  quality,  has  often  been  characteristic 
of  tribes  which  were  never  able  to  emerge  from 
their  barbarism.  Whenever,  therefore,  we  are 
tempted  to  look  with  contempt  at  the  childishness 
of  the  best  men  of  the  early  Middle  Ages  in  their 
attempts  to  humanize  and  christianize  the  Saxon 
or  the  Frank,  let  the  character  of  the  material  on 
which  they  were  working  be  duly  considered,  and 
then  their  childishness  is  seen  to  be  wisdom,  because 
they  essayed  to  do  only  what  could  be  done  in  the 
circumstances.  Or,  as  Rabanus  might  have  put  it 
himself,  "  They  taught  in  the  words  that  teach,  not 
in  those  which  do  not  teach." 

The  rest  of  his  book  on  reckoning  deals  with  the 
Roman  divisions  of  weights,  namely,  the  pound 
{libra),  containing  twelve  ounces  (uncice),  each 
ounce  containing  twenty-four  scruples  (scripult), 
and  each  scruple  in  turn  containing  six  siliquoe. 
He  remarks  that  these  names  for  weights  may  be 
applied  not  only  to  the  varieties  of  money,  but  to 
divisions  of  time  as  well.  He  is  in  need  of  some- 
thing to  serve  the  purpose  of  fractions,  and  yet,  like 
Alcuin,  has  no  notion  of  what  a  fraction  is.  It  is 
interesting. to  notice,  however,  that  the  sub-divis- 
ions of  weights  and  measures  are  made  on  the  scale 
of  six  or  twelve,  that  is,  are  duodecimal,  whereas 
the  notation  he  described  for  integers  was  decimal. 
The  divisions  of  time  which  occupy  several  chap* 


154  ALCUm 

ters  are  odd  enough.  The  smallest  element  of  time 
is  called  the  "atom."  There  are  said  to  be  three 
hundred  seventy-six  atoms  in  one  "ostentum," 
which  corresponds  with  our  minute.  The  ostentum 
in  turn  is  the  sixtieth  part  of  the  hour,  and  one 
and  one-half  hours  are  called  a  "moment."  The 
word  "minute"  occurs  in  Rabanus,  but  it  means 
the  tenth  part  of  an  hour,  and  the  "point"  is  a 
quarter  of  an  hour.  Furthermore,  "the  hour  is 
the  twelfth  part  of  a  day,"  he  continues,  "for  our 
Lord  asserts  this,  saying,  'Are  there  not  twelve 
hours  in  the  day? ' "  The  rest  of  the  book  is 
devoted  to  the  parts  of  the  year,  the  calendar  in 
general,  the  phenomena  of  the  sun,  moon  and 
planets,  with  the  method  of  calculating  Easter,  in- 
cluding a  singular  method  of  calculating  the  lunar 
epact  on  the  joints  of  the  hand  and  closing  remarks 
on  the  ages  of  the  world's  history.  The  Computiis 
contains  no  examples  in  arithmetic,  so  that  it  is 
impossible  to  compare  it  intelligently  with  Alcuin's 
arithmetical  propositions.  It  is  to  be  regarded  not 
as  a  formal  treatise  on  arithmetic,  but  as  a  hand- 
book of  reckoning,  including  numbers,  weights,  and 
measures,  the  divisions  of  time,  and  so  much  as- 
tronomy as  related  to  the  general  appearance  of  the 
sky,  and  the  calculation  of  the  church  calendar. 

In  connection  with  his  writings  on  the  liberal 
arts  it  will  be  appropriate  to  notice  the  Latin- 
Tudesque  Glossary  attributed  to  him.  It  professes 
to  be  written  down  by  his  pupil,  Walafrid  Strabo, 
presumably  from  dictation.     It  contains  less  than 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  166 

two  hundred  Latin  words,  some  of  which  are  defined 
in  Latin  and  others  are  given  with  their  Tudesque 
equivalents.  They  are  the  names  of  the  parts  of 
the  human  body,  and  at  the  end  are  added  the 
names  of  the  months  and  the  winds,  in  both  lan- 
guages. It  is  interesting  as  showing  the  incipient 
recognition  of  the  vulgar  languages  on  the  part  of 
the  learned,  and  more  especially  the  interest  felt 
by  Rabanus  in  the  early  German  tongue.  Even  in 
Alcuin's  time  Latin  was  being  pronounced  in  a 
barbarized  fashion,  which  pointed  to  its  coming 
fate.  Rabanus  had  exhorted  those  who  were  to 
preach  to  speak  so  that  the  people  could  under- 
stand, and  not  to  insist  on  learned  propriety  of 
expression.  In  this  glossary  he  goes  a  step  far- 
ther, and  compiles  a  short  list  of  words  in  frequent 
use  in  Latin  with  their  vulgar  Tudesque  equiv- 
alents. Many  of  them  have  the  lineaments 
of  modern  German.  Thus  the  Latin  os  (mouth) 
is  the  Tudesque  mund;  the  Latin  jecur  (liver)  is 
lebera.  For  the  Latin  pes  (foot)  we  have  an 
approximation  to  the  German /wss  in  the  Tudesque 
phuoz.^ 

Rabanus  is  also  credited  with  a  short  tract  On  the 
Origin  of  Languages.^  Some  of  it  is  taken  from 
Jerome.  It  contains,  with  comments,  a  Hebrew,  a 
Greek  and  a  Latin  alphabet,  with  the  sound  of  each 
letter  indicated  in  Roman  letters.  Omega  in  Greek, 
for  example,  is  called  "o  longa."    Then  comes  a 

1  Migne,  CXII,  1575. 

>  J)e  Jnventione  Linguarum,  Migne,  CXII,  1580. 


166  ALCUIN 

supposed  Scythian  alphabet,  which  is  briefly  de- 
scribed and  attributed  to  Jerome.  Rabanus  does  not 
seem  to  be  very  sure  that  he  understands  it,  for  he 
says  naively  to  his  readers :  "  If  we  have  committed 
any  mistakes  in  this  alphabet  or  any  faults  in  the 
others,  do  you  correct  them."  Then  comes  the 
alphabet  used  by  the  Marcomanni,  "  whom  we  call 
the  Northmen,  and  from  whom  the  tribes  who  speak 
the  Tudesque  language  are  descended."  Following 
this  are  abbreviations  for  Roman  proper  names  and 
the  so-called  Notod  Coesaris,  or  "Marks  of  Caesar," 
that  is,  combinations  of  dots  used  instead  of  vowels 
in  Roman  inscriptions.  Last  of  all  are  some  mono- 
grams of  Scriptural  names.  As  an  essay  in  phi- 
lology, there  is,  of  course,  nothing  to  be  said  about 
it.  At  best,  it  may  pass  for  a  hand-book  of  alpha- 
bets, useful  for  scribes,  though  probably  not  for 
general  instruction  in  schools. 

Passing  by  his  treatise  On  the  Soul,^  which  has 
only  indirect  educational  bearings,  there  remains 
for  consideration  his  encyclopedia  of  all  knowledge, 
entitled  On  the  Universe.^  It  was  written  about  the 
year  844,  after  he  had  retired  from  the  abbey  of 
Fulda  and  gone  into  retreat  at  Petersberg.  For  the 
composition  of  such  a  work  he  naturally  resorted 
to  the  huge  Etymologies  of  Isidore  of  Seville,  who 
had  given  the  Middle  Ages  its  first  encyclopedia 
in  twenty  elaborate  books.  Following  the  example 
of  Isidore,  who  had  plundered  the  classical  writers 

1  De  Anima,  Migne,  CX,  1109. 
*  De  Universo,  Migne,  CXI,  9-614. 


EABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  167 

to  construct  his  book  very  much  as  Eomans  in  the 
Middle  Ages  plundered  the  Coliseum  to  build  their 
houses,  Kabanus  in  turn  takes  most  of  his  book  from 
Isidore,  omitting  the  account  of  the  liberal  arts 
he  had  written  of  elsewhere,  expanding  Isidore's 
statements  in  places,  borrowing  also  from  Bede 
in  his  chapter  on  chronology,  from  Lactantius  for 
the  account  of  the  Sibyls,  and  from  Jerome  for  the 
geography  of  Palestine  and  the  explanation  of 
Hebrew  names.  But,  instead  of  elaborating  his 
work  in  twenty  books,  as  did  Isidore,  Eabanus  had 
enough  matter  for  twenty-two.  Now,  although 
twenty-two  was  not  a  sacred  number,  he  was  still 
fortunate  enough  to  chance  on  the  fact  that  Jerome 
had  divided  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament  into 
twenty -two  books,  thus  furnishing  him  with  a  ven- 
erable, if  not  a  sacred  precedent.  It  is  a  dreary 
enough  task  to  read  continuously  such  a  work,  but, 
without  some  understanding  of  both  the  scope  and 
diversity  of  its  contents,  it  is  difficult  to  appreciate 
what  was  the  sum  of  knowledge  of  that  time,  or 
the  attitude  of  mind  which  an  educator  had  to 
encounter.  An  exhibition  of  its  contents  is  a 
decided  help  towards  appreciating  the  confused 
medley  of  general  information,  at  best  taken  at 
second  or  third  hand,  which  was  then  accepted  un- 
questioningly  as  the  body  of  settled  truth.  It  is 
also  a  help  in  the  same  way  towards  appreciating 
the  untrained  and  credulous  condition  of  mind 
which  characterized  not  alone  the  uneducated  but 
even  the  clergy.     Against  such  a  backgroxind  of 


158  ALCUIN 

general  misinformation  how  brightly  does  even  the 
slightest  light  shine!  and  how  real  is  the  contrast 
between  Rabanus,  foolish  as  much  of  his  writing 
was,  and  the  age  he  was  attempting  to  educate ! 

But  let  us  examine  his  encyclopedia.  The 
twenty -two  books  fall  into  two  parts,  the  first  five 
dealing  with  sacred  and  the  other  seventeen  with 
secular  knowledge.  In  spite  of  the  apparent  con- 
fusion, there  is  a  thread  of  logical  continuity  which 
holds  the  work  together.  Thus  the  order  of  sub- 
jects in  the  first  five  books  is  as  follows:  God, 
then  his  creatures,  celestial  and  terrestrial ;  that  is 
to  say,  angels  and  men.  The  account  of  the  men 
is  confined  to  the  Bible.  Accordingly,  first  comes 
Adam,  with  the  other  antediluvians  following, 
then  the  patriarchs  with  other  notable  Old  Testa- 
ment men  and  women,  and  then  the  prophets, 
followed  by  New  Testament  persons  and  the  mar- 
tyrs. Next  comes  an  account  of  the  Church,  with 
chapters  on  the  Church  and  the  synagogue,  religion 
and  faith,  the  clergy,  the  monks,  and  other  orders 
of  the  faithful,  heresy  and  schism,  definitions 
relating  to  the  true  faith  and  church  doctrine,  and 
account  of  the  Scriptures,  embracing  some  notice 
of  the  authorship  of  each  book,  with  a  summary  of 
tiie  contents.  Then,  by  an  odd  but  not  unnatural 
digression,  we  have  a  chapter  on  libraries,  and 
"The  Diversity  of  Literary  Works."  This  "diver- 
sity" relates  to  kinds  of  treatises  that  may  be 
written,  the  various  parts  of  a  discourse,  the  divi- 
sion into  chapters  and  verses,   and  the  material 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  159 

make-up  of  books.  Then  follows  a  chapter  on 
the  "canons  of  the  Gospels,"  being  a  list  of  ten 
patristic  harmonies  of  the  Gospels,  followed  by 
other  chapters  on  the  decrees  of  the  church  coun- 
cils, the  Easter  cycle,  the  canonical  divisions  of 
the  day  and  the  appropriate  duties  attached 
thereto,  with  closing  chapters  on  sacrifices,  sacra- 
ments, exorcisms,  creeds,  prayer  and  fasting,  con- 
fession and  penance.  With  this  account  of  God, 
his  creatures,  his  Church,  and  the  Scriptures,  the 
first  five  books  close,  the  exposition  of  secular 
knowledge  beginning  with  the  sixth  book. 

The  sixth  book  is  on  "Man  and  his  Parts,"  that 
is  to  say,  on  human  nature,  and  the  various  "  parts  " 
or  functions  of  the  soul  and  body,  explained  liter- 
ally, mystically  and  allegorically,  all  with  proper 
Scripture  proof -texts.  It  includes  also  an  explana- 
tion of  the  various  postures  and  movements  of  the 
body.  Standing  is  thus  symbolical  of  belief,  for 
the  Apostle  says,  "  Stand  fast  in  the  faith."  The 
closing  chapter  of  the  book  is  devoted  to  the  parts 
of  the  human  body  which  in  Scripture  are  said  to 
be  parts  of  the  devil's  body.  Among  them  are  the 
eyes,  nostrils,  tongue,  mouth,  bones,  and  even  a 
tail,  inasmuch  as  "he  swingeth  his  tail  like  a 
cedar." 

The  seventh  book  is  a  sort  of  sequel  to  the  sixth, 
dealing  with  the  periods  of  human  life,  the  various 
degrees  of  relationship  by  marriage,  with  two 
chapters  on  monstrosities,  such  as  the  fauns,  the 
satyrs,  the  giants,  the  dog-headed  men,  Cerberus 


160  ALCUIN 

and  the  Chimaera,  and  on  "herds  and  beasts  of 
burden,"  that  is,  the  domestic  animals. 

The  eighth  book  is  zoological.  It  first  gives  an 
account  of  wild  beasts  in  general,  starting  out  with 
lions,  panthers,  pards,  leopards,  tigers,  wolves, 
foxes,  dogs,  apes,  "  and  all  other  animals  that  prey 
either  with  teeth  or  claws,  excepting  serpents." 
Every  beast  in  the  list  has  its  natural  description, 
and  a  special  mystical  meaning  as  well.  The 
spotted  pard,  to  take  one  example  from  many,  is 
rich  in  significance.  It  "mystically  signifies  the 
devil,  who  is  full  of  manifold  wickedness."  Again 
it  typifies  "  the  sinner  covered  with  the  spots  of  sin 
and  of  divers  errors.  Hence  the  prophet  says, 
'  The  pard  cannot  change  his  spots. ' "  It  is  also 
connected  with  the  millennium,  "when  'the  pard 
shall  lie  down  with  the  kid. '  "  And  it  stands  for 
Antichrist,  the  beast  in  the  Apocalypse,  "which 
ascended  from  the  sea,  like  unto  a  pard.  "  After 
the  wild  beasts  the  "minute  animals"  are  de- 
scribed. Such  are  crickets,  frogs,  ants,  mice, 
moles  and  hedgehogs.  The  mole,  condemned  to 
perpetual  blindness  and  darkness,  is  an  emblem 
of  idolatry.  Among  the  ants  enumerated  is  a 
kind  said  to  be  in  Ethiopia,  in  shape  like  a  dog. 
This  dog-ant  "digs  up  golden  sands  with  its 
feet  and  keeps  guard  over  them,  lest  any  one  steal 
the  sand."  Frogs  are  briefly  described,  and  then 
spiritually  stigmatized  as  "  demons  "  and  "  heretics 
which  cease  not  their  vain  and  garrulous  croaking." 
Separate  chapters  follow  on  serpents,  worms^  fishes 


EABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  161 

and  birds.  Then  comes  a  description  of  the  "  mi- 
nute birds."  Some  of  these  "birds"  are  flies. 
Others  are  bees,  wasps,  locusts  and  ants,  each  of 
them  having  a  mystical  significance.  The  bee  sig- 
nifies wisdom,  and  the  locust  has  various  meanings. 
The  fly  and  the  mouse  are  said  to  have  come  origi- 
nally from  Greece.  Flies,  moreover,  "after  they 
have  been  killed  in  water,  will  revive  within  the 
space  of  an  hour." 

The  ninth  book  is  devoted  to  the  world  in  gen- 
eral, its  elements,  the  various  planets,  stars,  and 
constellations,  and  the  phenomena  of  the  atmos- 
phere. Atoms  are  fully  defined,  and  the  four  ele- 
ments out  of  which  everything  has  been  made. 
Then  follows  a  general  description  of  the  heavens 
and  the  two  "  doors  "  of  heaven,  namely,  the  east, 
the  west,  because  the  sun  enters  by  one  and  leaves 
by  the  other.  Then  there  are  the  two  cardines,  or 
"  turning-points, "  north  and  south.  After  a  chapter 
on  light  and  another  on  celestial  luminaries  in  gen- 
eral, there  is  a  description  of  the  sun,  moon,  stars, 
and  some  of  the  constellations,  with  one  on  the 
morning  and  another  on  the  evening  star.  The  rest 
of  the  book  deals  with  the  air,  clouds,  thunder  and 
lightning,  and  other  "coruscations,"  the  rainbow, 
fire,  frost,  coals,  ashes,  wind,  breezes  and  calm 
weather,  whirlwinds  and  tempests.  The  book  as 
a  whole  is  thus  astronomical  in  its  first  part  and  in 
the  last  part  is  meteorological.  The  tenth  book  is 
on  chronology,  or  "  divisions  of  time."  The  eleventh 
book,  entitled  "On  the  Diversity  of  Waters,"  is 


162  ALCUIN 

aquatic  throughout.  Waters  are  classified  in  part 
as  salt,  fresh,  bituminous  and  sulphurous,  and  the 
curative  or  magical  virtues  of  the  many  springs 
and  streams  are  expatiated  upon.  Then  comes  a 
description  of  various  bodies  of  water,  such  as  the 
ocean,  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  the  Red  Sea,  the 
"abyss,"  bays  and  straits,  lakes  and  pools,  tor- 
rents and  whirlpools,  with  chapters  on  rain  and 
the  two  kinds  of  raindrops  (stilla,  the  falling  drop, 
and  gutta,  the  fallen  drop) ;  the  book  closing  with 
explanations  of  snow,  ice,  frost,  hail,  dew,  mist 
and  deluges.  The  twelfth  and  thirteenth  books  are 
occupied  with  a  general  geography  of  the  earth. 
There  is  a  chapter  on  paradise,  and  another  on  the 
"  regions  of  the  earth, "  which  contains  detailed  topo- 
graphical, historical  and  other  descriptive  mention 
of  the  various  tribes  and  countries  of  the  earth. 
Rabanus  then  proceeds  to  define  and  describe 
islands,  promontories,  mountains,  hills,  valleys, 
plains  and  forests.  He  closes  the  book  with  an 
account  of  "  various  places  "  of  geographical  char- 
acter. First  come  "  scriptural  places, "  then  "  stormy 
places,"  followed  by  the  "  lairs  of  wild  beasts,"  and 
then  groves  and  deserts.  After  these  come  "  devious 
places, "  "  pleasant  places, "  "  sunny  places, "  "  warm 
places,"  "ship-building  places,"  and  lastly  "slip- 
pery places."  Last  of  all  comes  his  account  of 
shores,  caves,  chasms,  "depths,"  "the  pit,"  the 
site  of  Erebus  and  of  the  River  Cocytus  in  the 
under  world. 

The  fourteenth  book  is  on  "public  buildings," 


RABANUS  AND  OTHER  PUPILS  163 

but  includes  private  dwellings  under  it.  It  is  a 
manual  of  domestic  and  public  architecture  of  the 
ancients,  with  full  spiritual  interpretation.  The 
fifteenth  book  is  on  the  philosophy,  poetry  and 
mythology  of  the  ancients.  The  sixteenth  book 
may  be  described  as  a  sort  of  ethnology  or  soci- 
ology, as  it  contains  an  account  of  various  nations 
of  men,  their  languages,  their  forms  of  government, 
with  definitions  of  civil  and  military  terms.  The 
seventeenth  book  is  on  "  the  dust  and  soil  of  the 
earth,"  that  is  to  say,  on  minerals  and  metals. 
There  is  first  the  "  soil  found  in  waters,"  as  salt  and 
pitch.  The  "common  stones"  are  next  described. 
Such  are  "rock,"  "cliffs,"  flint,  gypsum,  sand 
and  lime.  Then  come  the  "distinguished  stones," 
such  as  jet,  asbestus  and  selenite,  the  Persian  moon- 
stone, whose  brightness  "  is  said  to  wax  and  wane 
with  the  moon."  Higher  yet  come  the  marbles  and 
ivory,  which  are  assigned  separate  chapters.  After 
them  there  is  a  chapter  on  precious  stones,  followed 
by  others  on  pearls,  crystals  and  glass.  The  seven 
metals  —  gold,  silver,  brass,  electrum,  tin,  lead  and 
iron  —  conclude  the  book. 

The  eighteenth  book  deals  with  weights,  meas- 
ures, numbers,  and  musical  and  medical  terms. 
The  nineteenth  is  agricultural  and  botanical,  de- 
scribing in  succession  the  various  grains,  legumi- 
nous plants,  vines,  trees,  aromatic  herbs  and  the 
common  vegetables.  The  twentieth  describes  wars, 
and  the  different  kinds  of  armor,  the  various 
athletic  games,  ship-building  and  blacksmithing. 


164  ALCUm 

The  twenty-first  deals  with  the  domestic  arts  of 
house-building,  carpentering,  weaving  and  spin- 
ning, and  explains  fully  the  costumes  of  various 
nations  and  the  kinds  of  garments  worn  by  men 
and  women.  The  twenty-second  details  the  various 
household  utensils  and  tools,  beginning  with  tables, 
eating  and  drinking  vessels,  going  on  to  kitchen 
utensils,  baskets,  lamps,  couches  and  chairs,  and 
ending  with  garden  tools  and  harness. 

What  a  mass  and  a  mess  it  all  is !  It  falls  behind 
the  etymologies  of  Isidore  in  point  of  arrangement 
and  divisions  of  the  material.  It  is,  moreover, 
somewhat  weakened  and  diluted.  Yet  it  is  not 
without  a  general  plan.  He  has,  moreover,  added 
to  Isidore's  work  much  concrete  information  that 
was  useful  for  his  time  —  no  doubt  more  useful 
then  than  Isidore's  would  have  been.  Taken  with 
the  other  educational  writings  of  Rabanus,  it  gives 
a  completeness  to  his  activity  as  an  educational 
author  which  is  proof  of  his  sagacity ;  for  he  not 
only  furnished  the  men  of  his  time  with  methods 
and  subjects  on  the  formal  side  of  education,  buL 
met  their  empty  ignorance  with  a  vast  collection 
of  the  most  useful  common  information  that  was 
accessible  to  him,  and  so  became  the  teacher  of  his 
time  both  in  regard  to  the  substance  of  its  secular 
knowledge  as  well  as  on  the  side  of  method,  thus 
extending  his  labors  far  beyond  the  limits  within 
which  Alcuin  had  worked. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ALCUIN'S  LATER  INFLUENCE 

What  Alcuin  had  been  to  the  whole  of  Frank- 
land  Rabanus  was  specifically  to  Germany,  and, 
though  his  influence  is  discernible  separately  from 
the  influence  of  his  master,  the  two  soon  blended 
and  carried  forward  for  generations  the  educa- 
tional tradition  of  Western  Europe.  The  strength 
of  the  movement  was  at  times  centred  in  one  or 
a  few  places  and  at  others  dispersed  in  many.  As 
the  main  stream  of  learning  had  flowed  from 
York  to  Tours  and  from  Tours  to  Fulda,  so  it  is 
again  visible  later  as  it  passes  from  Fulda  to 
Auxerre,  touching  Ferrieres,  old  and  new  Corbie, 
Reichenau,  St.  Gall,  and  Rheims,  one  branch  of  it 
finally  reaching  Paris.  And  yet  the  stream  did 
not  run  unbroken,  but  with  parallel  lesser  currents 
and  connecting  cross-streams,  so  that  its  general 
widening  progress  is  as  diversified  as  the  fan-like 
sweep  of  a  gulf-stream  in  the  ocean,  and  can  only 
be  rightly  measured  by  taking  into  account  its  en- 
tire extent.  If  the  current  was  sometimes  parted, 
it  was  not  because  the  stream  did  not  flow  from 
one  source,  and  if  some  places  were  touched  only 
momentarily  or  left  untouched  altogether,  it  was 
because  its  volume  was  not  vast  enough  to  over* 

165 


166  ALCUm 

spread  the  whole  surface  on  which  it  flowed.  And 
yet  the  influence  of  Alcuin  is  not  easy  to  trace. 
There  were  no  new  institutions  founded  on  the 
model  of  his  teaching  after  his  death,  and,  even 
in  the  institutions  which  had  existed,  the  career  of 
learning  was  irregular  and  fluctuating.  Schools 
died  out  and  were  again  revived  in  their  old  places, 
sometimes  to  continue  for  a  time  in  power,  some- 
times to  linger  feebly  or  else  to  expire  finally. 
Even  the  palace  school  of  Charles  entered  on  a 
career  of  fitful  activity,  changing  first  from  Alcuin 
to  Erigena,  and  then  undergoing  other  mutations, 
never  utterly  extinct,  and  yet  without  leaving 
behind  any  continuous  record  of  its  doings.  There- 
fore, instead  of  seeking  to  gather  conclusions  from 
the  imperfect  records  of  the  fluctuating  fortunes 
of  certain  places  where  schools  were  held,  a  surer 
way  is  to  trace  Alcuin' s  general  influence  through 
the  succession  of  his  immediate  and  remote  pupils, 
for  herein  is  to  be  seen  the  true  inner  continuity 
of  education  for  a  century  and  a  half  after  his 
death,  if  not  longer. 

Before  doing  this,  some  mention  of  Erigena  is  in 
place.  The  Irish  teaching  which  had  crept  into 
the  palace  school  and  caused  Alcuin  such  uncon- 
cealed anxiety  shortly  before  his  death  received  a 
new  and  strong  impetus  after  he  was  gone.  In 
814  Charles  the  Great  died,  and  his  son  Lewis  the 
Pious  succeeded  him.  Soon  after  Lewis  died  the 
youthful  king,  Charles  the  Bald,  made  John  Scotus 
Erigena  master  of  the  palace  school  about  845. 


ALCUIN'S  LATER  INFLUENCE  167 

Lewis  had  been  careful  to  keep  within  the  limits 
laid  down  by  Alcuin,  but  his  successor  was  of  a 
different  temper,  and  welcomed  the  acute  and  witty 
representative  of  the  dangerous  speculative  learning 
that  was  so  well  fitted  to  shake  unquestioning  faith 
in  tradition.  John  brought  with  him  the  pro- 
scribed Martianus  Capella,  and  extended  the  influ- 
ence of  this  writer  by  composing  a  commentary. 
When  appealed  to  by  Hincmar  of  Eheims  to  come 
and  help  the  orthodox  faith  with  his  pen,  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  quote  Greek  as  well  as  Latin  fathers, 
and  even  heathen  philosophers  whenever  conven- 
ient, as  authorities  fit  to  be  cited  side  by  side  with 
Scripture ;  while,  as  Mr.  Mullinger  aptly  observes, 
"to  fill  up  the  measure  of  his  offence,  he  referred 
with  undisguised  approval  to  the  pages  of  Mar- 
tianus Capella."  ^  The  contest  had  set  in  between 
speculation  and  tradition,  and  could  no  longer  be 
confined  within  the  bounds  Alcuin  would  have 
approved,  and  the  new  influence  issuing  from  the 
teaching  of  Erigena,  though  at  first  resisted,  after- 
wards gradually  mingled  with  the  old  instruction 
given  in  the  monasteries. 

But  let  us  return  to  the  more  prominent  of  the 
later  pupils  who  represent  the  influence  of  Alcuin, 
many  of  them  through  Rabanus. 

Servatus  Lupus  (805-862)  was  educated  in  the 
monastery  of  Ferrieres  under  Aldrich,  the  pupil  of 
Alcuin.  When  Aldrich  became  archbishop  of 
Sens,  he  despatched  his  pupil  to  Fulda,  where  he 

i  Schools  of  Charles  the  Great,  p.  186, 


168  ALCTJIN 

studied  under  Eabanus,  then  at  the  height  of  his 
reputation.  In  836,  after  a  brilliant  career  as  a 
student  of  letters,  as  well  as  in  theology,  he  returned 
to  Frankland.  Aldrich  died  soon  after,  and  Ser- 
vatus  Lupus  succeeded  him  in  842  as  abbat  of 
Ferrieres,  where  he  taught  with  distinction,  gath- 
ering about  him  numerous  disciples  and  a  consid- 
erable library,  becoming  himself  the  one  purely 
literary  man  of  his  time  and  cultivating  the  classi- 
cal writers  to  an  extent  unheard  of  for  centuries. 
While  at  Fulda  he  often  repaired  to  Seligenstadt 
to  consult  Einhard,  the  biographer  of  Charles  the 
Great,  whose  friendship  he  had  made  and  who  then 
ruled  the  abbey  of  Seligenstadt,  where  there  were 
many  books.  Einhard's  taste  for  letters  and  friend- 
ship for  Servatus  promoted  his  progress  in  study 
and  thus  supplemented  the  instruction  of  Fulda. 

Haymo,  a  fellow-pupil  with  Eabanus  at  Fulda 
and  one  of  his  companions  later  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  Alcuin  at  Tours,  returned  from  Tours  to 
Fulda,  where  he  taught  in  the  school  for  some 
time.  He  left  Fulda  in  841,  to  become  bishop  of 
Halberstadt,  and  died  in  853. 

Walafrid  Strabo  (born  807),  after  pursuing  his 
first  studies  as  a  boy  at  the  school  of  Eeichenau, 
on  Lake  Constance,  was  sent  thence  to  Fulda  to 
study  under  Eabanus.  From  Fulda  he  returned  to 
Eeichenau,  and,  after  directing  the  school  of  that 
abbey  for  several  years,  was  elected  its  abbat  in 
842.  He  transplanted  thither  the  studies  of  Fulda, 
and  to  his  repute  as  a  teacher  added  considerable 


ALCUIN'S  LATER  INFLUENCE  169 

accomplishment  as  a  poet.  His  fame  was  probably 
greater  than  his  merit.  His  undisputed  merit, 
however,  consists  in  his  extension  of  the  teaching 
of  his  master.  "  Docuit  multos  "  is  the  testimony 
of  Rabanus  himself,  in  the  epitaph  he  composed 
for  Walafrid,  and  indicates  that  his  scholars  were 
numerous  enough  to  call  for  special  mention. 

Eudolph  (800?-866),  a  monk  of  Fulda,  was  both 
the  pupil  and  biographer  of  Rabanus,  succeeding 
him  in  the  care  of  the  abbey  school.  Though  of 
course  far  inferior  to  his  master,  he  was  thought  a 
man  of  great  learning,  and  continued  the  methods  of 
Eabanus,  though  with  less  ability.  Ermenric,  one 
of  his  scholars,  who  afterwards  became  abbat  of 
EUwangen,  testifies,  in  a  work  addressed  to  him, 
to  the  profundity  of  his  erudition  and  his  success 
as  a  teacher. 

Liutpert,  the  capable  abbat  of  New  Corbie,  who 
died  in  853,  had  also  been  a  monk  at  Fulda,  with 
Rabanus  as  the  master  of  his  studies.  He  also 
served  as  the  first  abbat  of  Hirschau,  a  community 
of  monks  who  had  gone  out  from  Fulda  by  the 
commission  of  Rabanus.  The  monk  Maginhard 
was  also  at  Fulda  about  the  same  time. 

Paschasius  Ratpert  (died  865)  retired  from  the 
world  to  the  monastery  of  Corbie,  then  governed  by 
Adelhard.  He  applied  himself  to  study  with  such 
success  as  to  be  selected  to  instruct  his  fellow- 
pupils.  Cicero  and  Terence  were  favorite  writers 
with  him  before  he  had  entered  the  monastery. 
His   activity  and  diligence   were   marked.      He 


170  ALCUIN 

accompanied  Adelliard  to  found  the  abbey  of  New 
Corbie  in  Saxony.  He  taught  many  pupils,  and 
among  them  the  younger  Adelhard,  Anscharius, 
archbishop  of  Hamburg,  Hildemann  and  Odo, 
each  of  whom  became  bishop  of  Beauvais,  and 
Warin,  later  abbat  of  New  Corbie.  In  844,  he  was 
himself  made  abbat  of  old  Corbie,  where  he  died  in 
865.  His  pupil,  Odo  of  Beauvais,  succeeded  him 
as  abbat. 

Among  other  monks  of  old  Corbie  who  deserve 
mention  was  Ratramnus,  whose  knowledge  of  the 
arts  was  considerable  and  whose  ecclesiastical 
reading  embraced  not  only  the  Latin  but  the  Greek 
fathers.  He  entered  the  monastery  probably  about 
the  time  Adelhard  became  its  abbat,  and  died  there, 
having  passed  all  his  life  as  a  simple  monk,  with- 
out aspiring  to  any  preferment.  Among  his  friends 
were  Servatus  Lupus  and  Odo  of  Beauvais.  Another 
monk  of  the  monastery  of  New  Corbie  in  Saxony, 
who  may  be  connected  with  the  influence  of  Alcuin 
and  Rabanus,  was  Rembert,  who  was  consecrated  a 
monk  by  Anscharius,  whom  he  succeeded  as  arch- 
bishop of  Hamburg  in  856. 

Passing  notice  may  be  given  to  Hilduin,  the  fel- 
low-pupil of  Servatus  Lupus  and  later  abbat  of  St. 
Denis,  who  died  in  840,  and  Ado  (800?-875), 
archbishop  of  Vieime,  who  had  been  offered  in 
youth  to  the  monastery  of  Ferrieres  by  his  parents, 
and  was  educated  there  under  Servatus  Lupus. 

Werembert  (died  884)  pursued  his  youthful  stud- 
ies at  Fulda  under  Rabanus  Maurus,  and  then  went 


ALCUIN'S  LATER  INFLUENCE  171 

to  the  important  abbey  of  St.  Gall.  One  of  his 
fellow-students  under  Eabanus  was  Otfried  of 
Weissenburg.  Werembert  was  proficient,  accord- 
ing to  the  chroniclers  of  his  time,  both  in  Latin  and 
Greek,  the  fine  arts,  philosophy,  poetry,  music, 
and  sculpture,  as  well  as  theology  and  history. 
We  know  little  of  his  life  beyond  the  fact  that  he 
was  a  monk  of  St.  Gall  and  taught  for  a  long  time. 
Grimaldus,  abbat  of  St.  Gall,  was  educated  in  the 
monastery  of  Reichenau,  where  his  education  was 
touched  by  the  influence  of  Alcuin  and  Rabanus 
through  his  friend  Ermenric,  the  monk  of  Reich- 
enau,  who  had  been  a  pupil  of  Walafrid  Strabo. 
Harmot  (died  884),  a  friend  and  fellow-pupil  with 
Werembert,  virtually  governed  the  abbey  of  St. 
Gall  even  during  the  lifetime  of  Grimaldus.  When 
Grimaldus  died,  Harmot  was  unanimously  elected 
to  succeed  him.  He  was  a  writer  of  various  treat- 
ises and  also  enriched  the  abbey  library  greatly. 

Three  monks  of  St.  Gall,  closely  connected  by 
reason  of  their  warm  personal  friendship  for  each 
other  and  their  common  distinction  as  scholars, 
were  Ratbert,  Notker,  and  Tutilo,  who,  though 
apparently  not  educated  by  teachers  in  the  direct 
line  of  succession  from  Alcuin  and  Rabanus,  were 
yet  familiar  with  the  writings  of  these  masters. 
Of  the  three,  Notker  may  be  singled  out  for  separate 
mention.  He  entered  St.  Gall  as  a  pupil  about 
840,  and  after  a  while  became  head  of  the  inner 
school,  the  monastery  then  containing  an  inner 
school  for  the  oblati,  who  were  offered  for  mouastio 


172  ALCUm 

life,  and  an  outer  school  for  the  extemi.  In  one  of 
his  commentaries  he  ranks  the  writings  of  Rabanus 
with  Jerome,  Augustine  and  Chrysostom,  and  in 
another  work  extols  the  grammar  of  Alcuin  as 
eclipsing  even  that  of  Priscian  himself.  Among 
those  touched  by  Notker's  influence  were  Regino, 
the  abbat  of  Prum,  and  Robert,  bishop  of  Metz. 

Turning  from  St.  Gall  to  Auxerre  in  Frankland, 
the  influence  of  Alcuin  and  Rabanus  again  appears 
as  a  dominating  impulse. 

Eric  of  Auxerre  (about  834-881),  when  a  boy, 
entered  the  monastery  of  St.  Germain  at  Auxerre. 
After  pursuing  his  early  studies  at  that  place  he 
went  to  Fulda,  where  he  was  instructed  by  Haymo, 
and  afterwards  to  Ferrieres,  where  Servatus  Lupus 
was  his  master.  When  the  period  of  his  study 
under  Servatus  was  completed  he  returned  to 
Auxerre,  and  was  given  charge  of  the  monastery 
school  of  St.  Germain  in  that  place.  Among  his 
pupils  were  Hucbald  and  the  famous  Remy  of 
Auxerre. 

Hucbald  (died  about  930),  the  monk  of  St. 
Amand,  was  regarded  as  the  leading  teacher  of  his 
time  next  to  Remy.  He  was  a  nephew  of  Milo, 
the  Christian  poet  and  student  of  both  the  liberal 
and  fine  arts,  who  had  studied  under  a  pupil  of 
Alcuin.  He  pursued  his  earlier  studies  under  the 
superintendence  of  his  uncle,  and  then  passed  from 
St.  Amand  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Germain  at 
Auxerre,  where  he  completed  his  course  under  Eric 
in  company  with  Remy  and  other  pupils  of  note. 


ALCUTN'S  LATEE  INFLUENCE  173 

His  proficiency  in  the  arts  was  notable  to  such  an 
extent  that  one  of  his  eulogists  asserts  "  he  was  so 
distinguished  for  his  skill  in  the  liberal  arts,  that 
he  was  compared  with  the  ancient  philosophers." 

The  most  famous  teacher  in  Frankland,  as  the 
ninth  century  passed  away  and  the  tenth  opened, 
was  Remy  of  Auxerre.  He  early  became  a  monk 
at  the  abbey  of  St.  Germain,  where  his  teacher 
was  Eric  of  Auxerre,  the  pupil  of  Haymo  and 
Servatus  Lupus.  Among  his  fellow-pupils  was, 
as  has  been  said,  the  celebrated  Hucbald,  the  monk 
of  Amand.  On  the  death  of  Eric  he  succeeded  to 
the  charge  of  the  school.  Soon  after  he  was  called 
away  in  company  with  Hucbald  by  summons  of 
Fulco,  archbishop  of  Rheims,  to  re-establish  the 
schools  of  that  diocese  which  had  fallen  into  decay. 
Eemy  taught  both  the  liberal  arts  and  theology,  and 
among  his  auditors  was  the  archbishop  himself. 
The  scholars  whom  Remy  taught  and  their  suc- 
cessors continued  the  school  at  Rheims  well  through 
the  tenth  century,  and  among  the  later  pupils  of 
the  school  were  the  historian  Frodoard,  Abbo  of 
Fleury,  and  Hildebold  and  Blidulph,  two  pupils 
of  Remy  himself  who  were  influential  in  establish- 
ing schools  in  Lorraine.  When  Fulco  died,  Remy 
went  from  Rheims  to  Paris,  where  he  established  a 
public,  not  a  monastic  school,  open  to  all  and  free 
from  ecclesiastical  rule.  Here  he  taught  philosophy 
and  the  liberal  arts,  as  well  as  theology,  expound- 
ing the  treatise  On  the  Categories  then  attributed 
to  Augustine,  and  teaching  the  liberal  arts  gener- 


174  ALCUm 

ally  witli  Martianus  Capella  as  the  text-book,  thus 
finally  establishing  that  hitherto  suspected  author 
in  a  place  of  honor.  To  render  Martianus  more 
easily  understood,  he  wrote  an  elaborate  com- 
mentary. Out  of  this  school,  "the  first  cradle 
of  the  University  of  Paris,  "^  came  Odo,  abbat  of 
Cluny,  the  greatest  pupil  of  Eemy.  It  is  doubt- 
less true  that  Remy  marks  a  new  period  in  the 
revival  of  studies,  and  some  have  considered  his 
influence  comparable  to  that  of  Alcuin  or  Rabanus. 
Though  this  cannot  be  shown,  it  is  yet  fair  to  say, 
in  the  words  of  an  old  chronicler,  that  "  the  studies 
which  had  become  obsolete  for  a  long  time  began 
to  flourish  again  under  him,  and  indeed  sprang  up, 
as  it  were,  newly  born  from  his  teaching."  ^  Among 
his  writings  were  commentaries  on  the  grammarians, 
Donatus  and  Priscian,  and  a  treatise  on  music,  be- 
sides his  already-mentioned  exposition  of  Martianus 
Capella. 

Odo  of  Cluny  (880-942)  was  offered  by  his  parents 
while  yet  a  child  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Martin 
at  Tours,  but  did  not  at  once  become  a  monk. 
After  passing  his  youth  in  secular  life,  he  returned 
to  Tours  at  the  age  of  nineteen  and  became  a  canon 
of  St.  Martin.  His  marked  taste  for  Virgil  and 
the  other  ancient  authors  on  the  side  of  literature 
was  supplemented  by  the  study  of  Priscian  on  the 
side  of  grammar.  He  soon  conceived  a  desire  of 
studying  the  arts  with  more  thoroughness  and  went 

1  Histoire  LiUraire  de  la  France,  VI,  p.  100. 

2  Histoire  LiUraire  de  la  France,  VI,  p.  101. 


ALCUIN'S  LATER  rNFLUENCE  176 

from  Tours  to  Paris,  where  Remy  of  Auxerre  was 
giving  public  lectures.  Under  him  Odo  studied 
dialectics  and  music  with  special  attention,  and  all 
the  other  liberal  arts.  On  returning  to  Tours 
he  is  said,  on  uncertain  authority,  to  have  had 
charge  of  the  abbey  school.  Soon  after  he  resolved 
to  renounce  the  world  finally  and  give  himself  to 
monastic  life.  When  in  his  thirtieth  year  he 
entered  a  monastery  in  Burgundy,  taking  with  him 
"one  hundred  books,"  probably  his  whole  library. 
After  the  death  of  the  abbat  in  927,  Odo  was  elected 
to  succeed  him,  and  became  not  only  the  head  of 
that  monastery,  but  of  the  more  important  abbey  of 
Cluny  and  others.  He  was  influential  in  bringing 
about  a  general  monastic  reform  in  Frankland  and 
in  connection  therewith  the  establishment  of  a 
large  number  of  schools.  One  of  these  was  the 
school  at  rieury.  Another  was  revived  in  the 
abbey  of  Gorz,  near  Metz,  whither  many  pupils  of 
the  school  at  Rheims  went  to  form  a  learned  monas- 
tic community.  He  also  established  instruction 
at  the  abbey  of  St.  Julian  of  Tours,  where  he  him- 
self spent  some  time.  His  reputation  spread 
rapidly,  and  he  was  consulted  by  the  pope  and  by 
princes,  as  Rabanus  had  been  before.  He  made  three 
journeys  to  Rome.  His  death  occurred  about  942. 
Such  were  the  men  who  continued  the  influence 
of  Alcuin  and  Rabanus  down  to  the  middle  of  the 
tenth  century.  They  and  their  associates  sat  in  the 
high  places  of  education  under  the  successors  of 
Charles  the  Great.     But  they  were  not  all,  for 


176  ALCUIN 

history  fails  to  preserve  a  record  of  their  times 
with  completeness.  It  is,  therefore,  only  fair  to 
presume  that  they  embody  less  than  the  full  influ- 
ence of  the  movement  started  by  Alcuin,  though 
undoubtedly  the  greatest  part  of  it.  In  this  suc- 
cession the  names  that  stand  out  pre-eminent  are 
those  of  Servatus  Lupus,  Walafrid  Strabo,  Pas- 
chasius  Ratpert,  Werembert,  Eric  of  Auxerre, 
Hucbald,  Remy  of  Auxerre  and  Odo  of  Cluny. 

The  middle  of  the  tenth  century  marks  the 
limit  of  what  may  be  styled  the  age  of  Alcuin 
in  education,  for  at  this  point  his  direct  influ- 
ence gradually  disappears,  and  yet,  amid  the  dev- 
astations and  wars  of  the  age  that  followed,  there 
are  indications  of  the  continuance  of  schools  trace- 
able to  the  influences  of  the  preceding  age.  The 
pupils  of  Odo  of  Cluny  were  numerous,  and  the 
school  of  Rheims,  revived  by  Remy  and  Hucbald, 
had  the  great  Gerbert,  afterwards  Pope  Sylvester 
the  Second,  for  a  time  as  its  master.  The  many 
pupils  of  Odo  and  Gerbert  maintained  almost  un- 
aided the  cause  of  education  at  the  end  of  the 
tenth  century.  At  this  point  the  passing-on  of 
learning  from  hand  to  hand  becomes  too  obscure 
to  follow,  but  early  in  the  eleventh  century  schools 
are  again  discernible  in  the  principal  monasteries, 
taught  by  masters  who  could  have  received  the 
tradition  of  learning  only  from  the  men  of  the  last 
century.  Meanwhile  Paris  was  assuming  more  and 
more  the  character  of  a  metropolis,  having  become 
the  fixed  residence  of  royalty.     The  schools  near 


ALCUm'S  LATER  INFLUENCE  177 

by,  including  Tours,  Bee  in  Normandy,  and  Chartres, 
became  more  closely  connected  with  the  capital,  and 
with  the  increase  of  intellectual  speculation  and 
controversy  there  came  a  great  increase  of  masters 
and  pupils.  The  time  was  ripe  for  repeating  the 
prophetic  experiment  of  Eemy.  A  new  succession 
of  teachers  arose.  "  One  of  them  was  Drogo,  who 
had  as  a  pupil  John  the  Deaf.  John  the  Deaf,  in 
turn,  instructed  Roscellinus  of  Chartres,  and  about 
Koscellinus  clusters  that  brilliant  galaxy  of  disci- 
ples, Peter  of  Cluny,  Odo  of  Cambray,  William  of 
Champeaux,  and  Abelard.^  We  are  now  at  the 
opening  of  the  twelfth  century.  Old  things  have 
passed  away  and  with  the  opening  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Paris  the  new  age  of  scholasticism  has  fully 
set  in. 

Eulogists  of  Alcuin  have  sought  to  do  him  the 
surpassing  honor  of  adjudging  him  the  true  ances- 
tor of  the  University  of  Paris  and  thereby  of  the 
universities  of  modem  Europe.  The  claim  scarcely 
needs  to  be  more  than  mentioned  before  it  is 
refuted.  Neither  on  the  side  of  instruction  nor  of 
external  organization  did  he  entertain  conceptions 
which  would  naturally  have  produced  such  a  result, 
nor  is  there  any  evidence  that,  without  the  intel- 
lectual awakening  that  came  to  Europe  under  the 
name  of  scholasticism,  the  universities  would  have 
been  founded,  or,  if  founded,  that  they  would  have 
been  capable  of  the  development  to  which  they 
attained.     The  awakening  impulse  came  from  with- 

1  Monnier,  Alcuin  et  Charlemagne,  pp.  266-268. 


178  ALCUm 

out,  through  the  introduction  of  the  philosophical 
works  of  Greek  genius  in  Latin  versions  made 
from  the  intermediary  Arabic.  It  was  these  that 
quickened  the  almost  lifeless  learning  and  edu- 
cation of  Europe.  But,  admitting  this  without 
reserve,  it  yet  remains  true  that  the  schools  of 
the  cathedrals  and  monasteries,  the  natural  suc- 
cessors and  heirs  of  Alcuin,  were  the  centres  of 
student  life  and  of  the  teaching  tradition.  With- 
out the  existence  of  such  centres,  established  as 
they  had  been  for  generations,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  universities  would  have  arisen. 

Alcuin' s  work  was  incipient  and  premonitory, 
and  the  outcome  was  greater  than  his  plan.  But 
his  work  had  first  to  be  done  before  later  develop- 
ments were  possible.  It  had  a  distinctive  life  of 
its  own,  which  seems  to  have  been  spent  by  the  end 
of  the  tenth  century.  But  there  are  no  absolute 
breaks  in  human  history.  Therefore,  when  from 
the  middle  of  the  tenth  century  to  the  middle  of 
the  eleventh  the  teachers  and  schools  that  descend 
from  him  are  nearly  or  wholly  lost  to  view,  let  it 
not  be  assumed  that  their  influence  ceased.  It  was 
a  time  of  great  confusion  and  of  consequent  loss  of 
historic  records.  The  little  learning  that  lingered, 
however,  is  not  to  be  despised,  though  it  glim- 
mered feebly  enough  in  the  darkness,  for  it  was 
the  only  learning.  When,  therefore,  new  and 
unrevolutionary  teachers  appear  later,  whom  it  is 
not  possible  to  connect  by  express  evidence  with 
the  men  of  the  century  bef ore^  it  is  to  be  presumed 


ALCUIN'S  LATER   INFLUENCE  179 

that  they  took  up  and  carried  forward  an  existing 
tradition,  which,  though  obscure  to  us,  was  plain 
to  them.  There  was  but  one  tradition  available 
for  their  use,  and  that  flowed  from  the  schools  of 
the  age  quickened  by  Alcuin. 


APPENDIX 


EDITIONS  OF  ALCUIN 

I.   Froben's  Edition  is  Volumes  0  akd  CI 
OF  Mignb's  Patrologia   Latino. 

The  first  edition  of  Alcuin's  collected  works  was 
edited  by  Ducliesne  and  printed  at  Paris  in  1617. 
Various  scattered  treatises,  not  included  in  this 
edition,  were  afterwards  discovered  and  printed. 
In  1777  Froben,  the  prince-abbat  of  St.  Emmeran  at 
Ratisbon,  brought  out  a  far  more  complete  edition 
than  had  yet  appeared,  with  an  improved  text  and 
a  vast  amount  of  illustrative  and  critical  matter. 
This  edition  of  Froben,  with  the  addition  of  Al- 
cuin's commentary  on  the  Apocalypse,  which  was 
brought  to  light  in  1837,  is  reprinted  in  volumes 
C  and  CI  of  Migne's  Patrologia  Latina,  published 
at  Paris  in  1863.  Migne's  reprint  contains  the 
most  complete  collection  of  Alcuin's  works,  in- 
cluding all  the  chief  treatises  known  to  have  been 
written  by  him.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  of  his  writ- 
ings remain  in  manuscript  to  be  added  to  the  list 
of  works  printed  in  Migne,  beyond  a  few  minor 
treatises  and  a  very  considerable  number  of  letters, 
some  of  which  have  been  since  edited  by  Jaff^  and 

188 


184  ALCUm 

Duemmler.     The  arrangement  of  Alcuin's  writings 
in  Migne  is  as  follows  :  — 

I.  Epistles,  Vol.  C,  135-515. 

Of  the  two  hundred  and  thirty-two  letters,  two 
are  written  by  Charles  (Nos.  lxxxi  and  clviii) 
and  the  rest  are  by  Alcuin.  Fully  five-sixths  of 
them  are  written  between  796,  when  he  went  to 
Tours,  and  804,  —  the  last  eight  years  of  his  life. 
They  may  accordingly  be  taken  as  containing  his 
final  opinions  in  regard  to  whatever  matters  they 
treat.  His  best  literary  style  is  also  in  them,  the 
Latinity  having  as  a  rule  both  more  fluency  and 
propriety  than  in  his  other  writings.^  Some  of 
them  are  long  and  carefully  composed  in  set  form, 
containing  many  of  his  favorite  epistolary  flour- 
ishes or  deflorationes,  while  others  are  in  the  light- 
est vein.  The  subject-matter  is  by  turns  theological, 
moral,  ecclesiastical,  political,  didactic,  and  per- 
sonal and  well  reflects  his  varied  activities.  His 
chief  correspondents  were  Charles  the  Great  and 
Amo.     We  have  over  thirty  of  his  letters  to  each 

1  Alcnin's  style  in  general  is  far  removed  from  pore  Latinity. 
It  is  inferior  to  tliat  of  Einhard,  the  biographer  of  Charles,  who 
had  fair  success  in  writing  after  as  good  a  model  as  Suetonius, 
whereas  nothing  of  Alcuin's  approaches  this.  His  faults,  or 
rather  the  apparently  ineradicable  faults  of  his  time,  touch  the 
elementary  questions  of  syntax.  For  example,  he  uses  the  tenses 
incorrectly  in  subordinate  sequences,  joins  ut  in  final  clauses 
indifferently  with  the  indicative  or  subjunctive,  writes  a  parti- 
ciple where  a  finite  verb  is  in  place,  and  often  employs  the  plu- 
perfect where  he  ought  to  use  the  perfect.  Compare  Monumenta 
Alcuiniana,  pp.  36  and  38. 


EDITIONS  OF  ALCUm  186 

of  them.  His  other  correspondents  include  the 
Pope,  the  patriarchs  of  Jerusalem  and  of  Aquileia, 
kings  in  Britain,  members  of  the  imperial  family 
in  Frankland,  archbishops,  bishops,  monasteries, 
and  his  pupils.  Of  all  his  writings,  the  letters 
have  the  highest  historical  value,  being  of  capital 
importance  for  understanding  the  chief  questions 
in  Church  and  State  during  the  latter  half  of  the 
eighth  century. 

II.     EXEGETICAL   WORKS,    515-1155. 

1.  Questions  and  Answers  on  Genesis,  515-569. 
This  is  dedicated  to  his  pupil  Sigulf.   It  is  partly 

indebted  to  Jerome's  Qucestiones  in  Genesin  and  to 
St.  Gregory's  Moralia. 

2.  Enchiridion,  or  Brief  Exposition  of  Certain 
Psalms,  569-639. 

These  are  the  seven  penitential  Psalms,  the  118th 
(our  119th)  Psalm,  and  the  fifteen  "gradual" 
Psalms.  It  is  apparently  an  original  composition, 
and  was  dedicated  to  Arno,  who  had  asked  Alcuin 
to  compose  such  a  treatise. 

3.  Commentary  on  the  Song  of  Solomon,  639- 
655. 

Probably  an  original  composition.  It  is  dedi- 
cated to  no  one  by  name,  though  in  the  prefixed 
verses  a  certain  juvenis,  probably  a  pupil,  is  ex- 
horted to  read  it.  At  the  end  of  it  is  added  the 
Epistola  ad  Daphnin,  a  short  commentary  on  the 
text  in  Solomon's  Song,  "There  are  threescore 
queens  and  fourscore  concubines." 


186  ALCUIN 

4.  Commentary  on  Ecclesiastes,  665-723. 

In  the  preface  to  this  commentary,  Alcuin  says, 
"I  have  composed  a  short  commentary  on  this  book 
out  of  the  works  of  the  holy  fathers  and  partly 
from  the  commentary  of  Jerome."  It  is  dedicated 
to  his  pupils,  Onias,  Candidus,  and  Nathanael. 

5.  Interpretations  of  the  Hebrew  Names  of  our 
Lord's  Progenitors,  723-733. 

It  is  dedicated  to  Charles  and  is  based  on  Bede's 
Homily  on  the  Nativity  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary. 

6.  Commentary  on  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  733- 
1007. 

Alcuin's  principal  exegetical  work,  written  about 
800  and  dedicated  to  Gisela,  the  sister,  and  Rotrud, 
the  daughter,  of  Charles.  It  is  based  principally 
upon  Augustine,  Ambrose,  Gregory  and  Bede. 

7.  A  Treatise  on  St.  PauVs  Epistles  to  Titus,  Phi- 
lemon, and  to  the  Hebrews,  1007-1083. 

There  is  no  dedication.  The  comments  on  Titus 
and  Philemon  are  compiled  from  Jerome's  commen- 
taries on  those  epistles.  The  comments  on  Hebrews 
are  also  compiled  from  the  Latin  version  of  Chrys- 
ostom's  commentary  on  Hebrews  made  by  Muti- 
anus. 

8.  A  Brief  Commentary  on  Some  Sayings  of  St. 
Paul,  1083-1086. 

This  short  note  may  be  original  in  part,  though 
but  only  in  part,  for  Jerome  on  Hebrews  can  be 
traced  in  it. 

9.  Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse,  1086-1156. 
Part  of  the  treatise  appears  to  be  lost,  as  the 


EDITIONS  OP  ALCUm  187 

exposition  breaks  off  abruptly  in  chapter  xiL 
Possibly,  however,  Alcuin  did  not  complete  the 
work.  It  is  based  on  Bede's  Commentary  on 
the  Apocalypse,  with  supplementary  use  of  the 
writings  of  Augustine,  Jerome,  Victorinus,  Tycho- 
nius,  Primasius,  and  Ambrose  Autpert,  one  of 
Alcuin's  contemporaries. 

III.  Dogmatic  Works,  Vol.  CI,  9-303. 

1.  On  the  Trinity,  9-63. 

Written  in  Tours  toward  the  close  of  Alcuin's  life 
and  dedicated  to  Charles  after  he  had  become  em- 
peror. Augustine's  treatise  On  the  Holy  Trinity 
is  Alcuin's  chief  reliance.  Alcuin's  Twenty-Eight 
Questions  on  the  Trinity,  dedicated  to  his  pupil 
Fridugis,  are  appended. 

2.  On  the  Procession  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  63-83. 

A  collection  of  testimonies  from  Scripture  and 
the  fathers,  dedicated  to  Charles. 

3.  Writings  against  Felix  of  Urgel  and  Elipandus 
of  Toledo,  83-303. 

These  contain  an  elaborate  argument,  based  on 
the  fathers,  exhibiting  the  Catholic  faith  as  against 
the  Adoptionist  heresy.  They  show  much  vigor 
and  contain  Alcuin's  ablest  work. 

IV.  LiTUBOICAL   AND    MOBAL    WOBKS,    439-655. 

1.  Book  of  Sacraments,  445-466. 

2.  On  the  Psalms,  465-509. 

3.  Offices  for  the  Dead,  509-611. 

4.  On  the  Ceremonies  of  Baptism,  611-613L 


188  ALCUm 

These  four  contain  the  forms  of  worship,  both 
general  and  special,  for  ecclesiastical  service.  They 
are  excerpted  and  arranged  from  older  liturgies. 

6.  On  the  Virtues  and  Vices,  613-639. 

A  moral  treatise  dedicated  to  Count  Wido  and 
taken  from  Augustine. 

6.  On  the  Nature  of  the  Soul,  639-649. 

This  is  also  taken  from  Augustine,  and  is  dedi- 
cated to  Gundrada  (Eulalia). 

7.  On  the  Confession  of  Sins,  649-655. 

A  short  letter  of  exhortation  addressed  to  the 
monks  of  St.  Martin  at  Tours. 

V.  Lives  of  the  Saints,  655-723. 

1.  The  Life  of  St.  Martin  of  Tours,  657-663. 

2.  The  Life  of  St.  Vedast,  663-681. 

3.  Life  of  St.  Biquier,  681-690. 

4.  Life  of  St.  Willibrord,  690-723. 

VI.  Poems,  723-847. 

1.  Miscellaneous  Poems,  723-812. 

These  include  prayers,  inscriptions  for  books, 
metrical  histories  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
inscriptions  for  churches  and  altars,  hortatory 
moral  verses,  miscellaneous  inscriptions,  poems  to 
different  friends,  epitaphs,  epigrams,  and  riddles. 
The  metres  employed  are  almost  exclusively  the 
dactylic  hexameter  or  the  elegiac.  They  are  not 
conformed  to  a  strict  regard  for  quantity,  but  are 
probably  better  than  most  of  the  poetry  of  that 
time  in  this  respect.  As  poetry,  they  have  little 
claim  to  admiration,  though  there  are  not  wanting 


EDITIONS  OF  ALCUIN  189 

many  touches  of  description  and  imagination  that 
are  pleasant. 

2.  Poem  on  the  Saints  of  the  Church  at  York, 
812-847. 

This  poem  in  heroic  verse  is  Alcnin's  history  of 
the  Church  at  York,  partly  based  on  Bede's  writ- 
ings and  partly  on  his  own  personal  knowledge. 
It  appears  to  have  been  composed  shortly  before  he 
went  to  Frankland.  It  consists  of  1657  hexameter 
verses,  modeled  to  a  considerable  extent  on  Virgil 
and  attempting  a  sustained  dignity  of  style.  Its 
value  for  the  history  of  Alcuin's  connection  with 
York  is,  of  course,  very  great. 

VII.  Didactic  Works,  847-1001. 

(For  an  analysis  of  these  didactic  writings  see  the  fifth  chap- 
ter of  this  volume.) 

1.  Grammar,  847-901. 

2.  Orthography,  901-919. 

3.  Dialogue  on  Rhetoric  and  the  Virtues,  919-949. 

4.  Dialectics,  949-975. 

6.  Disputation  of  the  Royal  and  Most  Noble  Youth 
Pippin  with  Albinus  the  Scholastic,  975-979. 
6.  On  the  Calculation  of  Easter,  979-1001. 

VIII.  WOBKS  DOUBTFULLY  ASCRIBED  TO  Al- 
CUIN,  1001-1169. 

Two  of  these  are  of  interest : 

1.  The  Disputation  of  the  Boys,  1097-1143,  and 

2.  The  Propositions  of  Alcuin  for  Wlietting  the  Wit 
of  Youth,  1143-1161. 

IX.  Spurious  Works,  1173-1297. 


190  ALCUIN 


II.  Monumenta  Alcuiniana  a  Philippo  Jq0o  Pr<»- 
parata.  Ediderunt  WcUtenbach  et  Duemmler.  pp. 
vi  4-  912.    Berlin,  1873. 

This  is  the  sixth  volume  in  the  Bibliotheca  Rerum 
Germanicarum  begun  under  the  editorial  care  of 
JafEe,  who  died  in  1870.  Wattenbach  and  Duemm- 
ler carried  on  the  work  interrupted  by  Jaffe's 
untimely  death.  The  volume  they  have  edited 
contains  the  following  documents :  — 

1.  T?ie  Life  of  Alcuin,  composed  in  the  year  829 
by  an  anonymous  biographer,  who  states  that  he 
was  a  pupil  of  Sigulf.     It  is  of  distinct  value. 

To  this  the  following  writings  of  Alcuin  are  sub- 
joined :  — 

2.  Life  of  St.  WilUbr&rd. 

3.  Poem  on  the  Saints  of  the  Church  at  York. 
4  Epistles. 

The  Epistles  are  edited  by  Duemmler,  and  the 
other  three  documents  by  Wattenbach.  Their  edit- 
ing is  a  model  in  every  way.  If  only  the  rest  of 
Alcuin  could  be  as  faithfully  revised,  the  service 
rendered  to  learning  would  indeed  be  great. 

The  text  is  thoroughly  purged  after  a  scientific 
method,  variant  readings  are  indicated  so  far  as 
significant,  and  the  body  of  interpretative  matter 
and  cross-references,  printed  at  the  foot  of  each 
page,  gives  abundant  illustration  of  the  bearings  of 
the  text.  The  Epistles,  which  are  of  such  prime 
intrinsic  importance,  fill  the  chief  part  of  the  book. 


EDITIONS  OF  ALCUIN  191 

Their  number  is  largely  increased,  so  that  we  may 
now  consult  two  hundred  and  ninety-two  of  Al- 
cuin's  composition,  besides  fourteen  letters  written 
by  others  and  connected  with  his  correspondence. 
Their  chronology  is  cleared  up  and  other  obscurities 
are  fully  explained  for  the  first  time.  The  poem 
On  the  Saints  of  the  Church  at  York  is  also  eluci- 
dated by  useful  notes,  and  particularly  by  the  ref- 
erences to  Bede's  Ecclesiastical  History  printed  on 
the  margin. 


TABLE  OF  DATES 


B.C.  384-822  Aristotle.    His  writings  mark  the  highest  de- 
velopment of  Greek  doctrine  respecting  edu- 
cation. 
100-46  Cicero.    Frequent  notices  of  the  arts  of  the 
Greeks,  which  by  his  time  had  become  the 
groundwork  of  Eoman  culture, 
116-27  Varro.    His  Lihri  Novem  DiscipUnarum,  the 
thesaurus  of  information  on  the  arts  for 
later  Latin  writers, 
8-A.D.  66  Seneca,    Epistle  to  Lucilius  on  liberal  studies 
and   other   references  to  education.     He 
draws  from  Varro. 
A.D.  36-96  Quintilian.      Institutio    Oratoria,   partly   on 
education.    Varro  his  authority. 

n 

364-430  Augustine.  Wrote  DiscipUnarum  Libri 
shortly  after  his  conversion.  Other  writ- 
ings with  educational  bearings  are  De  Doc- 
trina  Christiana,  De  Ordine,  and  Betrac- 
tiones.  Varro  is  his  great  authority. 
Before  439  Martianus  Capella's  book  De  Nuptiis  PMlo- 
logice  et  Mercurice. 
481-525  Boethius.     Various  translations  and  commen- 

taries. 
468-669  Cassidorus.     De  Artibus  ac  Disciplinis  Liber- 
alium  Litterarum 
— —  -636  Isidore.    Compiled  the  Etymologice,  the  first 
encyclopedia. 

1A3 


IM  TABLE  OF  DATES 


m 

About  650  Christian  Irish  learning  passing  into  Britain. 
669  Theodore  of  Tarsus  comes  to  Canterbury. 
628-690  Benedict  Biscop  founds  Wearmouth  and  Yar- 
row, where  was  represented  all  the  learning 
of  the  West. 
673-735  Bede,  the  pupil  of  Benedict  Biscop. 

732  Egbert,  the  friend  of  Bede,  becomes  archbishop 
of  York  and  founds  the  cathedral  school  there. 

IV 

About  735  Alcuin  bom  in  Northumbria  at  or  near  York. 

742  Charles  the  Great  bom,  —  son  of  Pepin,  king 
of   the   Franks,    and   grandson    of   Charles 
Martel. 
Before  745  Alcuin  enters  the  school  at  York,  founded  by 
archbishop  Egbert  and  conducted  by  Albert. 

766  Egbert  dies;  Albert  succeeds  him  as  arch- 
bishop ;  Alcuin  becomes  master  of  the  school 
at  York.  Alcuin,  in  company  with  .^bert, 
visits  Frankland  and  perhaps  Rome  also. 

771  Charles  becomes  sole  king  of  the  Franks. 

776  Rabanus  Maums  bom  at  Mayence. 

780  Alcuin  visits  Italy,  meeting  Charles  at  Pavla. 

JElbert  dies. 

781  Alcuin  again  visits  Italy  to  obtain  from  the  Pope 

the  pallium  for  his  fellow-pupil,  the  elder 
Eanbald,  who  had  succeeded  Albert  as  arch- 
bishop of  York.  At  Parma  he  meets  Charles, 
who  invites  him  to  come  and  teach  at  his 
court. 

782  Alcuin  leaves  York  to  become  master  of  the 

palace  school  at  Aachen. 
787  Charles,  returning  home  from  a  visit  to  Italy, 


TABLE   OF  DATES  196 

brings  into  Frankland  masters  of  grammar 
and  arithmetic.  In  tlie  same  year  he  issues 
his  great  Capitulary  promoting  education. 
This  is  followed  by  other  injunctions  to  the 
same  effect  in  788,  789,  and  as  late  as  802. 
790-792  Alcuin  revisits  Britain. 

792  Alcuin  returns  to  Aachen  to  combat  the  disturb- 
ing heresies  of  Adoptionism  and  image-wor- 
ship. 

794  Alcuin  participates  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
Council  at  Frankfort,  which  condemns  Adop- 
tionism and  image-worship. 

796  Alcuin  appointed  abbat  of  Tours. 

800  In  June  Charles  visits  Alcuin  at  Tours,  accom- 
panied by  Queen  Liutgard,  who  dies  there. 
Alcuin  goes  with  Charles  to  Aachen,  where 
he  engages  in  public  debate  with  Felix  of 
Urgel,  who  acknowledges  himself  overcome 
and  retracts  his  Adoptionist  errors. 

800  On  Cliristmas  day  in  Rome  Charles  is  crowned 
Emperor  of  the  Holy  Boman  Empire  by  the 
Pope. 

802  Rabanus  Maurus  studies  under  Alcuin  at  Tours. 

804  On  May  19th  Alcuin  dies  and  is  buried  at  Tours. 
The  chief  posts  of  educational  advantage  are 
in  possession  of  his  friends  or  pupils. 
Theodulf  is  virtual  minister  of  education  to 
Charles  the  Great,  Amo  archbishop  of  Salz- 
burg, Riculf  of  Mayence,  Rigbod  of  Treves, 
Leidrad  of  Lyons  and  Eanbald  II  of  York. 
Fridugis  succeeds  Alcuin  as  abbat  of  St.  Mar- 
tin at  Tours,  AugUbert  is  abbat  of  St.  Riquier, 
Sigulf  of  Ferrieres,  Adelhard  of  Corbie  neai 
Amiens,  St.  Benedict  of  Aniane  in  Languedoc, 
and  Rabanus  is  in  charge  of  the  school  at 
Fulda. 


190  TABLE  OF  DATES 


814  On  June  28th  Charles  the  Great  dies  and  is  buried 
at  Aachen.    Lewis  the  Pious  succeeds  him. 

821  Aldrich,  a  pupU  of  Alcuin  at  Tours,  succeeds 

Sigulf  as  abbat  of  Ferrieres. 

822  Rabanus  becomes  abbat  of  Fulda.     Adelhard 

founds  the  monastery  of  New  Corbie  in  Sax- 
ony, becoming  its  first  abbat,  and  continuing 
as  abbat  of  old  Corbie  also. 

842  Servatus  Lupus,  educated  under  Aldrich  at  Fer- 
rieres and  Rabanus  at  Fulda,  succeeds  Aldrich 
as  abbat  of  Ferrieres. 
Walafrid  Strabo,  pupil  of  Rabanus,  becomes 

abbat  of  Reichenau. 
Rabanus  retires  from  the  rule  of  Fulda. 

845  John  Scotus  Erigena  master  of  the  palace  schooL 

866  Rabanus  dies  near  Mayence. 

865  Paschasius  Ratpert,   pupil    of   Adelhard   and 
abbat  of  old  Corbie,  dies. 
By  870-880  The  influence  of  Alcuin  and  Rabanus  reaches 
St.  Gall,  being  represented  there  by  Werem- 
bert,  Grimaldus,  Notker  and  others. 

881  Death  of  Eric  of  Auxerre.  He  was  educated  at 
Fulda  under  Haymo,  the  pupil  of  Alcuin  and 
fellow-student  with  Rabanus,  and  at  Ferrieres 
under  Servatus  Lupus,  the  pupil  of  Aldrich. 
About  900  Remy  of  Auxerre,  educated  in  company  with 
Hucbald  under  Eric  of  Auxerre,  opens  his 
public  school  in  Paris. 

942  Death  of  Odo  of  Cluny,  who  had  been  educated 
at  Tours  and  later  under  Remy  at  Paris. 
About  950-1000  Education  sustained  almost  entirely  by 
pupils  of  Odo  and  Gerbert,  for  a  while  master 
of  the  school  at  Rheims  revived  by  Remy 
9nd  Hucbald. 


BOOKS  ON  ALCUIN 

The  following  list  contains  a  selection  of  books  and  arti» 
cles  of  interest  on  Alcuin.  Those  marked  with  an  asterisk 
are  especially  helpful. 

Adamson :  Alcuin,  in  Leslie  Stephen's  Dictionary  of 
National  Biography. 

Bahrdt:  Alcuin  der  Lehrer  Karls  des  Orossen.  Lauen- 
burg,  1861. 

*  Ceillier :  Histoire  Generale  des  Auteurs  iSacris  et  Uccle- 
siastiques,  Vol.  XII.    Paris,  1862. 

Corbet :  Hagiographie  du  Diocese  d*  Amiens,  Vol.  I.  Paris 
and  Amiens,  1868. 

*  Duemmler :  Alcuin,  in  the  Allgemeine  Deutsche  Bio- 
graphic. 

Dupuy :  Alcuin  et  VJ^cole  de  St.  Martin  de  Tours.  Tours, 
1876. 

Hamelin:  Essai  sur  la  Vie  et  les  Ouvrages  d^ Alcuin. 
Rennes,  1873. 

*  Histoire  Literaire  de  la  France,  Vols.  IV,  V,  VI.  Paris, 
1866. 

Laforet :   Alcuin  'Restaurateur  des  Sciences  en  Occident 
sous  Charlemagne.     Louvain,  1851. 
Lorenz :  Alcuins  Leben.    Halle,  1829. 

*  Lorenz :  The  Life  of  Alcuin,  translated  from  the  German 
by  Jane  Mary  Slee.    London,  1837. 

Meier:  Ausgewahlte  Schriften  von  Columban,  Alcuin, 
U.S.V3.,  in  Vol.  Ill  of  the  Bibliothek  der  katholischen  Pada- 
gogik.    Freiburg  im  Breisgau,  1890. 

*  Monnier :  Alcuin  et  Charlemagne.    Paris,  1864. 

197 


198  BOOKS  ON  ALCUIN 

Monnier :  Alcuin  et  son  influence  litteraire,  religieuse,  d 
politique  sur  les  Franks.    Paris,  1853. 

*  Mullinger :  The  Schools  of  Charles  the  Great.    London, 
1877. 

Sickel :  Alcuinstudien,  in  the  Journal  of  the  Vienna  Acad- 
emy of  Science,  Vol.  LXXIX,  pp.  461-650.     Vienna,  1876. 

*  Stabbs :  Alcuin,  in  the  Dictionary  of  Christian  Biog- 
raphy. 

Thery :  Alcuin  (L'JScole  et  VAcademie  Palatines).    Ami- 
ens, 1878. 

*  Werner :  Alcuin  und  sein  Jahrhundert.    Vienna,  1881. 
Rabanus  Mauros :  Collected  Works  in  Migne's  Patrologia 

Latina,  Vols.  CVH-CXIL 


INDEX 


Aachen,  39,  59,  00,  71, 86  $qq. 

Abelard,  177. 

Abbo,  173. 

Academy  of  Plato,  48. 

Adelhard,  43, 169, 170. 

Adelhard,  The  Younger,  170. 

Ado,  170. 

Adoptioniam,  60,  62,  68,  86. 

.fidilbert,  77. 

.Albert,  31,  32,  33,  34,  38,  67,  7S. 

"  AeneodB,"  85. 

AlbinuB,  36. 

Albinue  (Aleuin),  44, 10«,13T. 

Aleimua,  35, 140. 

Aleuin,  Birth,  31. 

"      Touth,  31,  33. 

"      Education  at  York,  81-33. 

"       Vi«it»  to  Italy,  38,  39. 

"      Maiter  of  Palace  School, 
40-63. 

"      Abbat  of  Tours,  63, 64-88. 

"      Death  and  burial,  87,  88. 

"      Writings  in   general,  88- 
92, 183-191. 

"      Educational  writingt,  92- 
116, 189. 

«•       Orammar,  92-102, 189. 

••       Orthography,W2,l03,lB9. 

-      Ehetoric,  104, 105, 189. 

"      DiaUctiet,  106, 106, 189. 

••      Disputation  qf  Boys,  106, 
189. 

••      JHsputation    cf    P«pin, 
106-108. 180. 


AIcTiln,  On  the  Seven  ArU,  lOS. 

"      DeCurtuet  Saltu  LutuBt 
108,  189. 

"      Propositions  in  ArithiM- 
tic,  108-112, 189. 

"      Method  of  teaching,  45. 

••       Character,  117-123. 

"       Pupili,  38,  42-47,  124-128, 
166. 

"      Connections  with    Bab*> 
nus,  126-129. 

"      Later  influence,  lS6-lTt. 
AlcuinuB,  35. 
Aldhelm,  34. 
Aldrich,  124, 167, 161. 
AlphabeU,  155, 169. 
St.  Amand,  172, 171 
Ambrose,  34,  36,  90. 
Amiens,  124. 
Angilbert,  43,  124. 
Anglo-Saxon  Church,  28, 29. 
Aniane,  125. 
AnschariuB,  170. 
Antony,  44. 

Apostolical  constitntioaa.  Ml 
Apuleius,  18. 
Aquila,  44. 
Arator,  35, 140. 
Architecture,  7,  21. 
Aristotle,  4,  6,  22,  28,  34,  S6. 
Arithmetic,  5,  6,  7,  8  $gq. 
Arithmetical  puzxlea,  TL 
Arno,  43,  54, 124. 
Arsenius,  44. 
Aries  Liberales,  6, 147. 
Arts  (see  Seven  Liberal  Arta). 
199 


200 


INDEX 


Art$  and  DitcipUnes  of  Liberal 
Letters,  23. 

Astrology  (tee  alao  Aatronomy), 
7, 16,  97. 

Astronomy,  6,  0,  8  $qq. 

Atbanasius,  34. 

Athens,  48. 

"  Atom,"  164. 

Aadulf,  44. 

AugrusUne,  10, 11-18,  20, 24,  34,  3«, 
46,  90,  92, 135, 138,  146,  147,  150, 
172,  173. 

Pseudo-Aagnstine  On  the  Cate- 
gories, 37,  92, 106,  173. 

Augustine  the  monk  of  Canter- 
bury, 29. 

Auxerre,  166, 172. 

Ats,  44. 

ATars,  41. 

B 

Barbarisms  in  Latin  (see  "Bns- 

ticity"),102. 
Basil,  34. 
Baugulf ,  40, 126. 
Bee,  177. 
Bede,  29,  30,  34,  36,  37,  65,  68,  72, 

86(t),  90,  92,  102,  108,  112,  119, 

150, 157. 
Beecbwood,  125. 
St.  Benedict,  125. 
Benedict  Biscop,  66. 
Benedictine  order,  05, 126. 
Bezeleel,  44. 
Biscop,  Benedict,  20,  66. 
Blidulph,  173. 
Boethius,  22,  23,  25,  27,  84,  88,  87, 

105, 141, 150. 
Boissier,  7. 
Boniface,  126, 126. 
Braulio,  26. 
Britain,  27,  28,  S9. 
Bucbonia,  126. 


Calwinus,  38. 
Candidiu,44. 


Canterbury,  29,  30,  7T. 
Canticles,  Book  of,  07. 
Capella  (see  Martianus  Capella). 
Capitulary  of  787,  49-51  tqq.,  126. 
Capitularies  of  789,  53,  64. 
Capitulary  of  802,  54. 
Carloman,  125. 
Caroline  Bookt,  62. 
Caroline  Minuscules,  70. 
Cassiodorus,  23,  26,  27,  34,  36,  37, 

82,  92, 108, 147. 
Categories,  Treatise  on  the,  87, 

92, 105, 173. 
Cathedral  schools,  66,  67. 
Chalcidius,  144. 
Charlemagne     (see    Charles    the 

Great) ,  Preface. 
Charles  Martel,  41,  86. 
Charles,  son  of  Charles  the  Oreat, 

43. 
Charles  the  Bald,  166. 
Cliarles  the  Oreat,  1,  2,  28, 87, 89, 

40,  45,  46,  47  sqq.,  and  Table  of 

Dates. 
Chartres,  177. 
Chronicles,  Book  of,  79. 
Chrysostom,  34,  90, 172. 
Cicero,  6,  22,  25,  28, 34, 36, 104, 160. 
Clement,  35, 140. 
Cluny,  174, 175, 177. 
Coelfrith,  29. 
Columba,  44. 
Comminian,  35. 
Compulsory  edaeation,  66b 
Computtis,  58, 154. 
Copying  of  books,  70-73. 
Corbie,  New,  124, 165, 169, 170. 
Corbie,  Old,  124, 165, 169, 170. 
Cuculus,  38. 
"  Cyclic  Disciplinea,"  18. 


Damoetaa,  44. 
Dares,  47. 
Darid,  44, 79.  Stl 


INDEX 


201 


Delia,  44. 

St.  Denis,  124, 170. 

De  Doctrina  Chrittiana,  12, 138. 

De  Ordine,  16. 

X>e  Nuptiia  PhOologia  et  Mereu- 

riot,  7, 18, 19-21. 
Dialectics,  5,  6,  7,  8  $qq. 
Ditciplinarwn  JAbri,  16. 
"  Disciplines,"  Yarro's  nine,  7,  8, 

17. 
Donatns,  25,  35,  30, 101, 174. 
Dositheus,  101. 
Drogo,  177. 

S 
Banbald,  The  Blder,  89. 
Eanbald,  The  Younger,  38,  76,  78, 

124. 
Baster,  Calculation  of,  82,  46,  82. 
Egbert,  31,  33,  34,  37,  65. 
iyKVKktot  TTaiici'a,  9,  19. 
"  Bgyptian  "  teachings,  82. 
EigU,  130. 

Einhard,  43, 168, 184  note. 
Elipandus  of  Toledo,  60. 
EUwangen,  169. 
Encycliut  diaciplina,  19. 
Bntellus,  47,  83. 
Episcopal  schools,  67. 
Eric  of  Auxerre,  172, 173, 176. 
Brigena,  132, 141, 142, 144, 166, 167. 
Brmenric,  169, 171. 
Bthelbert  (see  .<£lbert). 
Ethelred,  60. 

Btymologies  of  Isidore,  20, 160. 
Euboric,  32,  67. 
Euclid,  25. 
BulaUa,  44,  47. 
Butychius,  36. 
Sxtemi,  171. 

F 

"  Father  of  the  Vineyards,"  78. 

Felix  of  Ui^el,  60,  86. 

Ferrieres,  124,  125,  165,  167,  170, 

172. 
**  Fiforea  "  of  Onunmar,  100. 


Finger-reckoning,  160  $qq. 

Flaccus,  83,  86. 

FlaccuB  Albinus,  44. 

Flenry,  173, 175. 

Flogging,  76. 

Fortunatus,  35, 140. 

Frankfort,  Council  of,  00. 

Fridugls,  38,  42,  58,  87, 126. 

Frodoard,  173. 

Fronto,  28. 

Fulco,  173. 

Fulda,  49,  03,  04,  126, 128,  ISO,  106, 

167, 168, 169, 170, 172. 
Fulgentius,  84. 

O 

St.  OaU,  166, 171, 172. 

Gallic  schools,  28,  30,  41. 

Geography,  33. 

Geometry,  5,  6,  7,  8  aqq. 

Gerbert,  176. 

Gerhoch,  129. 

St.  Germain,  172, 173. 

Gisela,  daughter  of  Charles,  43, 44. 

Gisela,  sister  of  Charles,  43, 44, 90. 

Glossary,  164. 

Gorz,  176. 

Gotteschalk,  133. 

Grammar,  5,  6,  7,  8  8qq. 

Gratuitous  education,  55, 56, 68, 60. 

Greek  in  Alcuin's  writings,  90. 

Greek  studies,  28,  29. 

Gregory  the  Great,  11,  29,  34,  80, 

90. 
Orimaldus,  171. 
Gundrada,  43, 44. 


Hadrian,  Pope,  42,  6L 
HalbersUdt,  127, 108. 
Hamburg,  170. 
Harmot,  171. 
Hatto,  127,  ISl. 
Haymo,  127, 168,  Vi. 
Hiptat,  20. 


202 


INDEX 


Hilary,  S4. 
Hildebold,  178. 
HUdeman,  170. 
Hilduin,  170. 
Hincmar,  107. 
Hirichau,  169. 
Homer,  44. 

Homilary  of  Charlec,  64. 
Huebald,  172, 173. 170. 
Haju,41. 


Image-worship,  61,  OS. 

Imperial  schooU,  1,  9. 

Inttitutet  of  Sacred  Letteri,  2S. 

InstUutio  Oratorio,  9. 

Ireland,  27. 

Irene,  61. 

TxUb  learning,  77,  82, 121, 185. 

iMiah,  67,  68. 

Isidore,  26,  27,  28,  30,  31,  36, 37, 68, 

82,  92, 101, 104, 106, 150, 156, 157, 

164. 


Jerome,  34, 36,  4«,  84, 166, 166, 167, 

172. 
John  the  Deaf,  177. 
Jonathan,  80. 
Joseph,  38. 
Josephns,  142. 
St.  Julian  of  Tours,  176. 
Julias,  44. 
Jnrispmdenee,  32. 
JnveacQS,  34, 140. 


LactantiuB,  10, 36, 157. 
Langnedoe,  136. 
Leidrad,  54, 124. 
Leo,  34,  85,  86. 
Lerins,  28,  20. 
"  LeTite,"  34. 

Lewis    the    Plvu,   43,    86,    166, 
1«T. 


Liberal  Arts   (see  BeTen  Liberal 

ArU). 
LQfer  Homo,  6. 
Library  at  Fulda,  129, 130. 
Library  at  Tours,  67,  68, 1S9. 
Library  at  York,  34-36,  67. 
LU>ri  CaroUni,  62. 
Libri  Novem  Ditciplitiarttin,  6, 7. 
Lindisfame,  62. 
Liudger,  38. 
Lintgard,  42.  43,  88,  88. 
Liutpert,  169. 
Lombards,  42. 
Lorraine,  173. 
Lorscb,  127. 
Lucan,  35,  36. 
Lullns  the  Jew,  39. 
Lunar  epact,  154. 
Lupus  Serratoa  (see  Serratna  La- 

pus). 
Lyons,  124. 

U 

MaehariuB,  44. 

Magenfrid,  44. 

Maginhard,  109. 

Marcomanni,  156. 

Martianus  Capella,  7, 17, 18-22,  25^ 

28,  30,  37,  82, 142, 167, 174. 
St.  Martin  of  Tours,  63,  64,  87,  88, 

174. 
St.  Maur,  127. 

Maums  (see  Rabanus  Maoma). 
Mayence,  124, 125, 126, 131. 
Medicine,  7,  8,  21. 
Medieval  periods,  1, 2.  ] 
Menalcas,  45. 
Mercia,  59. 

Mercury  and  Philology,  19. 
Merovingians,  41,  70. 
Metz,  172, 175. 
Mllo,  172, 173. 
Monastic  schools,  58,  67. 
Monte  Casaino,  126. 
Mlinster,  38. 
Moaic,  6, 6, 7, 8  $qq. 


INDEX 


aoi 


KathanMl.  44. 

Vice,  Conncil  of,  61,  03. 

Nicomachua,  25, 101. 

Northambrid,  21,  58,  M,  M,  66,  T7. 

Notce  Caiarii,  166. 

Notkcr,  101,  in,  173. 


mioH,  57, 170. 

Odo  of  BeauTkia,  170. 

Odo  of  Cambray,  177. 

Odo  of  Clany,  174, 17«. 

Ofia,  59,  60.  T4,  76. 

OBiM,88. 

Orleans,  80,  86, 124. 

Oroiiua,  34. 

Ostentum,  154. 

Oaolf,  38. 

Otf riad  9t  WaiiMntait,  ia0»  171. 


Palace  School,  41  sqq.,  166. 

"  Paradigmatic  "  writing,  81. 

"  Fkraphraatical "  writing.  SL 

Paria,  86, 166, 173, 176, 176. 

Pari!,  University  of,  174, 177. 

Pariah  achoola,  66,  56,  67. 

Puna,  39. 

Parta  of  Grammar,  100. 

Paachaaioa  Ratpert,  160, 178. 

St.  Patrick,  28. 

Paolinna,  35, 140. 

PauUnoa  of  Aqnileia,  64. 

Paria,  39. 

Pepin,  aoQ  of  Charlaa  tbe  GtmM, 

43,106. 
Perfect  numbers,  24, 143, 144. 
Periods  in  Middle  Ages,  1,  i. 
Peter  of  Cluny,  177. 
Peter  of  Piaa,  39. 
Petertberg,  181, 16C. 
Philoaophy  a  Uberal  ut,  6. 16,  IT. 

ruioiogy.ia. 


Phoeaa,  36. 

Pindar,  44. 

Plato.  142, 143, 144, 147. 

Platonic  disciplines,  48. 

Platonic  philoeophcra,  14f. 

Plautus,  28. 

Play  at  school,  76. 

Poetry,  46. 

"  Point,"  154. 

Pompeiaa  the  grammarian,  H^  |^ 

Pompeiua  Trogna,  34. 

Porphyry,  22. 

Proeparamettta,  149. 

Primary  education,  68. 

Priacian,  35,  36, 101, 16»,  111;  VL 

ProbuB,  S6. 

"Prodigal  Son,"  S8,lUw 

Proaper,  36. 

Prum,  172. 

Pttudodoetom,  It. 

Pythagoras,  146. 


Quadrivium,  22, 28,  J 
QnintiUan,  8, »,  10. 


Babanna  Haonu,  lt6-164, 166,  W, 
160, 170. 
••  «•       Sdncational 

writings,    lai 

•99- 
Baganhard,  88. 
Batbert,  171. 
Ratgar,  IM,  UT. 

Ratpert  (aee  PaaehMtoa  lU^Wt). 
Batranmoa,  170. 
Regino.  172. 

Reichenaa,  166, 168,  ITL 
Rembert,  170. 
Remy  of  Auxerra,  172,  ITS,  IM, 

176, 176, 177. 
Retractationa,  16. 
Rbeima,  166, 178. 176, 176. 
Bhatorie,  6, 6,  7, 8  agg. 


204 


INDEX 


Bienlf ,  4S.  54, 134. 
Bigbod,  86,  U4. 
Bt.  Biqnier,  Ui. 
BlUcbl.  7. 16. 
Robert  of  Mets,  ITI. 
BoMellinua,  177. 
Botrud,  43,  90. 
Bndolpb.  126, 180,  lOB. 
••Siu«iett]r,»71,10l. 

B 

8aitU$  of  the  Chunk  at  Tork,  tl, 

18»,  190. 
Balzbnrg,  68, 124. 
Bftmnel,  127, 128  note,  129. 
Sapieniia,  70. 
Saracens,  41, 42,  81. 
Saiura,  19. 
Satura  Doctor,  26. 
Baxona,  41. 

BcboIaaticUm,  132,  ITT. 
Schokuticut,  S4,  TOL 
Bebool  at  Tork,  76. 
ScoteUut,  82. 
Scriptorlnm,  70,  72,  TS. 
Scriptorea,  134, 137, 188. 
Secondary  education,  68. 
Sednlioa,  34, 140. 
SeligentUdt,  168. 
Seneca,  8,  9, 10. 
Sena,  124, 167. 
Servatus  Lnpna,  130, 167, 168,  170, 

172, 176. 
Servina,  36. 
Seven  Liberal  Art*,  4-87,  82,  87, 

48,  97, 139, 146, 147. 
•'  BeTen  Pillara  "  of  X^adoni,  24, 

79,96. 
"  Seven  WaterpoU,"  80. 
Signlf,  88,  42,  86, 124. 
Solomon,  44, 47. 
Sopbiatical  reasoning,  lOt, 
Borek,  80. 
State  education,  U, 
§t«tlTli,  86|8A> 


Stnrm,  126. 
Sylvester  II,  ITfll 
Bymeon,  38. 

T 

Terence,  160. 
Tertnllian,  10, 14, 16. 
Theodore  of  Tarans,  29, 86. 
Theodulf ,  42,  43,  64,  66,  67,  68,  n, 

79,  80,  81, 121, 124. 
Theology,  46. 
Tbyrsis,  45. 
Timcetu  of  Plato,  144. 
Tobias,  Book  of,  86. 
Toors,  63,  64,  66,  67,  68,  70,  71,  T2, 

74,  77,  78,  80,  82,  85,  86,  87,  88, 

102,  114,  124,  126.  126,  127,  128, 

130. 
Treves,  85, 124. 
TritbemiuB,  149. 
Trivium,  23,  26, 106. 
Tudesque,  103, 164,  IM,  liC 
Tnronie  City,  67. 
TntiIo,171. 


UniTtnal  primary  adncatioiit  Hk 


Varro,  6,  T.  8,  It,  IT,  19, «.  ttk  n» 

144,146. 
Vetolns,  44. 
VictorinoB,  34. 
Vienne,  170. 

VUlage  schools,  66,  66, 8T,  it. 
"  Vineyards,"  78,  79. 
VirgU,  28,  36, 86, 46, 84, 86, 1T4 


Wala,  43. 

Walafrid  Strabo,  180, 164, 168, 160^ 

171, 176. 
\KrBldramn,  38. 


INDEX 


206 


Wario,  ITO. 
WearmoQtb,  29. 
Werembert,  170, 171,  ITflL 
Wido,  116. 

William  of  Champeanx,  177. 
"  Wine-cellara,"  79,  80. 
WiUo,  38,  42,  68. 


Yarrow,  29. 

York,  31-38.  58,  59,  SO,  M,  67,  M, 
74, 76,  76,  87, 124, 186. 

Z 

Zabdi,  79, 80. 
ZacbaJriaa,  Pope,  Uiu 


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C»rr*spcnitne«  is  invited,  and  will  be  cheerfully  answered,  CeUaUgnt  Hit' 
A«»»  _______________ 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  50N5, 
1 08- 167  Fifth  Ave.  New  York. 


THB  GREAT  EDUCAT0R5. 


NOTICES  OF  THE  SERIES. 

**  Adminibly  conceived  in  a  truly  philosophic  spirit  and  executed  witb  unutoal 
(ridU.  It  is  rare  to  find  books  on  pedagogy  at  once  so  instructive  and  so  interest- 
iof.  ...  I  hope  to  read  them  ail,  which  is  more  than  I  can  say  oi  any  other 
series. " — Wiluam  Preston  Johnston,  Julane  University. 

' '  The  Scribners  are  rendering  an  important  service  to  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion in  the  production  of  the  '  Great  Educators  Series. '  ' ' — Journal  of  Education. 

' '  We  have  not  too  many  series  devoted  to  the  history  and  the  theory  of  edu- 
cation, and  the  one  represented  at  the  present  moment  by  the  two  volumes  before 
ns  promises  to  take  tux  important  place— a  leading  place— amongst  the  few  we 
have." — London  EduccUumal  Times. 


ARISTOTLE. 


The  whole  of  ancient  pedagogy  is  Professor  Davidson's  subject,  the 
course  of  education  being  traced  up  to  Aristotle, — an  account  of  whose 
life  and  system  forms,  of  course,  the  main  portion  of  the  book, — and 
down  from  that  great  teacher,  as  well  as  philosopher,  through  the  decline 
of  ancient  civilization.  An  appendix  discusses  ' '  The  Seven  Liberal  Arts, " 
and  paves  the  way  for  the  next  work  in  chronological  sequence, — Professor 
West's,  on  Alcuin.  The  close  relations  between  Greek  education  and 
Greek  social  and  political  life  are  kept  constantly  in  view  by  Professor 
Davidson.  A  special  and  very  attractive  feature  of  the  work  is  the  cita- 
tion, chiefly  in  English  translation,  of  passages  from  original  sources 
expressing  the  spirit  of  the  different  theories  described. 

' '  I  am  very  glad  to  see  this  excellent  contribution  to  the  history  of  educa>  I 
tion.  Professor  Davidson's  work  is  admirable.  His  topic  is  one  of  the  most 
profitable  in  the  entire  history  of  culture.  "—W.  T.  Harris,  U.  S.  Commissiontr 
of  Education. 

' ' '  Aristotle  '  is  delightful  reading.  I  know  nothing  in  English  that  covers 
the  field  of  Greek  Education  so  well.  Tou  will  find  it  very  hard  to  maintijn 
this  level  in  the  later  works  of  the  series,  but  I  can  wish  you  nothing  better 
than  that  you  may  do  so. ' ' — G.  Stanley  Hall,  Clark  University. 

ALCUIN. 

Professor  West  aims  to  develop  the  story  of  educational  institntloni 
in  Europe  from  the  beginning  of  the  influence  of  Qiristianity  on  education 
to  the  origin  of  the  Universities  and  the  first  beginnings  of  the  modem 
movement.  A  careful  analysis  is  made  of  the  effects  of  Greek  and 
Roman  thought  on  the  educational  theory  and  practice  of  the  early 
Christian,  and  their  great  system  of  schools,  and  its  results  are  studied 
with  care  and  in  detail.  The  personality  of  Alcuin  enters  largely  into  the 
story,  because  of  his  dominating  influence  in  the  movemenL 

"Die  von  Ihnen  mir  freundlichst  zugeschickte  Schrift  des  Herm  Professor 
West  uber  Alcuin  habe  ich  mit  lebhaftem  Interesse  gelesen  und  bin  ilberrascht 
davon  in  Word  America  eine  so  eingehende  Beschaltigung  mit  unserer  Vorzeit 
und  eine  so  ausgebreitete  Kenntniss  der  Literature  iiber  diesen  Gegenstand  zu 
finden.  Es  sind  mir  wohl  Einzelbeiten  begegnet  ein  denen  ich  etwas  auszu- 
setzenfand,  die  ganze  Auffassung  und  Darstellung  aber  kaim  ich  nur  als  sehr 
wohl  gelungen  und  zutreffend  bezeichnen." — Professor  Wattenbach,  Berlin. 

' '  I  take  pleasure  in  saying  that  '  Alcuin '  seems  to  me  to  combine  carefult 
■cholarly  investigation  with  popularity,  and  condensation  with  interest  or  M* 
till,  in  a  truly  admirable  way. "— Proussor  G.  T.  Laod,  qf  VaU. 


THB  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

ABELARD. 

M.  Compayre,  the  well-known  French  educationist,  has  prepared  in  this 
volume  an  account  of  the  origin  of  the  great  European  Universities 
that  is  at  once  the  most  scientific  and  the  most  interesting  in  the  English 
language.  Naturally  the  University  of  Paris  is  the  central  figure  in  the 
account ;  and  the  details  of  its  early  organization  and  influence  are  fully 
given.  Its  connection  with  the  other  great  universities  of  the  Middle 
Ages  and  with  modern  university  movement  is  clearly  pointed  out. 
Abelard,  whose  system  of  teaching  and  disputation  was  one  of  the  earliest 
signs  of  the  rising  universities,  is  the  typical  figure  of  the  movement;  and 
M.  Compayre  has  given  a  sketch  of  his  character  and  work,  from  an 
entirely  new  point  of  view,  that  is  most  instructive. 

"  'Abelard'  may  fairly  be  called  the  founder  of  university  education  in 
Sarope.  and  we  have  in  this  volume  a  description  of  his  work  and  a  careful 
analysis  of  his  character.  As  the  founder  of  the  great  Paris  University  in  the 
thirteenth  century  the  importance  of  his  work  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 
The  chapter  devoted  to  Abelard  himself  is  an  intensely  interesting  one,  and  the 
other  chapters  are  of  marked  value,  devoted  as  they  are  to  the  origin  and  early 
history  of  universities.  .  .  .  The  volume  is  a  notable  educational  work.  "— 
Button  Daily  Travtltr. 

LOYOLA. 

This  work  is  a  critical  and  authoritative  statement  of  the  educational 
principles  and  method  adopted  in  the  Society  of  Jesus,  of  which  the 
author  is  a  distinguished  member.  The  first  part  is  a  sketch,  biograph- 
ical and  historical,  of  the  dominant  and  directing  personality  of  Ignatius, 
the  Founder  of  the  order,  and  his  comrades,  and  of  the  establishment  and 
early  administrations  of  the  Society.  In  the  second  an  elaborate  analysis 
of  the  system  of  studies  is  given,  beginning  with  an  account  of  Aquaviva 
and  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  and  considering,  under  the  general  heading  of 
"the  formation  of  the  master,"  courses  of  literature  and  philosophy,  of 
divinity  and  allied  sciences,  repetition,  disputation,  and  dictation;  and 
nnder  that  of  "formation  of  the  scholar,"  symmetrj'  of  the  courses  pur- 
sued, the  prelection,  classic  literatures,  school  management  and  control, 
<jxaminations  and  graduation,  grades  and  courses. 

"  This  volume  on  St.  Ignatius  of  '  Loyola  and  the  Educational  System  of  the 
Jesuits,'  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hughes,  will  probably  be  welcomed  bv  others  be- 
sides those  specially  interested  in  the  theories  and  methods  of  education. 
Written  by  a  member  of  the  Jesuit  Society,  it  comes  to  us  with  author!^,  and 

S resents  a  complete   iuid  well  -  arranged  survey   of  the  work  of  educational 
evelopment  canted  oat  by  Ignatius  and  his  followers." —i^M<iim  SaiunUty 
Xtvitvt. 

FROEBSL. 

Friedrich  Froebel  stands  for  the  movement  known  both  in  Eturope 
and  in  this  country  as  the  New  Education,  more  completely  than  any 
other  single  name.  The  kindergarten  movement,  and  the  whole  de- 
velopment of  modern  methods  of  teaching,  have  been  largely  stimulated 
by,  if  not  entirely  based  upon,  his  philosophical  exposition  of  education. 
It  is  not  believed  that  any  other  account  of  Froebel  and  his  work  is  so 
complete  and  exhaustive,  as  the  author  has  for  many  years  been  a  student 
of  Froebel's  principles  and  methods  not  only  in  books,  but  also  in  actual 
practice  in  the  kindergarten      Mr.  Bowen  is  a  frequent  examiner  of  kin- 


THE  ORE  AT  EDUCATORS 

^ergartens,  of  the  children  in  them,  and  of  students  who  are  trained  to  lit 

kindergarten  teachers. 

' '  No  one,  in  England  or  America,  is  fitted  to  give  a  more  sympathetic  or  lucid 
Interpretation  oi  Froebel  than  Mr.  Courthope  Bo  wen.  ...  Mr.  Bowen's  book 
will  be  a  most  important  addition  to  any  library,  and  no  student  of  Froebel  eas 
afford  to  do  witbooc  it. ' ' — Kate  Douglas  Wiggin,  New  York  City. 

HERBART. 

In  this  book.  President  De  Garmo  has  given,  for  the  first  time  in  the 
English  language,  a  systematic  analysis  of  the  Herbartian  theory  of  ed- 
ucation, which  is  now  so  much  studied  and  discussed  in  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States,  as  well  as  in  Germany.  Not  only  does  the 
volume  contain  an  exposition  of  the  theory  as  expounded  by  Herbart 
himself,  but  it  traces  in  detail  the  development  of  that  theory  and  the 
additions  to  it  made  by  such  distinguished  names  as  Ziller,  Story,  Frick, 
Rein,  and  the  American  School  of  Herbartians.  Especially  valuable  will 
be  found  Dr.  De  Garmo's  careful  and  systematic  exposition  of  the  prob- 
lems that  centre  around  the  concentration  and  correlation  of  studies. 
These  problems  are  generally  acknowledged  to  be  the  most  pressing  and 
important  at  present  before  the  teachers  of  the  country. 

' '  Some  one  has  said  there  can  be  no  great  need  without  the  means  of  supply- 
ing such  need,  and  no  sooner  did  the  fraternity  realize  its  need  of  a  knowledge 
of  the  essentials  of  Herbart  than  Dr.  De  Garmo's  excellent  work  on  '  Herbart  and 
the  Herbartians,'  by  Scribner's  Sons  of  New  York,  appeared,  a  book  which, 
costing  but  a  dollar,  gives  all  that  the  teacher  really  needs,  and  gives  it  with 
devout  loyalty  and  sensible  discrimination.  It  is  the  work  of  a  believer,  a  de- 
votee, an  enthusiast,  but  it  is  the  masterpiece  of  the  writer  who  has  not  for- 
gotten what  he  owes  to  his  reputation  as  a  scholar  in  his  devotion  to  liia 
master." — Journal  of  Education. 

THE  ARNOLDS. 

No  book  heretofore  published  concerning  one  or  both  of  the  Arnolds 
has  accomplished  the  task  performed  in  the  present  instance  by  Sir 
Joshua  Fitch.  A  long-time  colleague  of  Matthew  Arnold  in  the  British 
Educational  Department,  the  author — leaving  biography  aside — has,  with 
nnusual  skill,  written  a  succinct  and  fascinating  account  of  the  important 
services  rendered  to  the  educational  interests  of  Great  Britain  by  the 
Master  of  Rugby  and  his  famous  son.  The  varied  and  successful  efforts 
of  the  latter  in  behalf  of  a  better  secondary  education  during  his  long 
official  career  of  thirty-five  years  as  Inspector  of  Training  Schools,  no 
less  than  the  notable  effect  produced  at  Rugby  by  the  inspiring  example 
of  Thomas  Arnold's  high-minded  character  and  enthusiastic  scholarship, 
are  admirably  presented.  Whatever  in  the  teaching  of  both  seems  likely 
to  prove  of  permanent  value  has  been  judiciously  selected  by  the  author 
from  the  mass  of  their  writings,  and  incorporated  in  the  present  volume. 
The  American  educational  public,  which  cannot  fail  to  acknowledge  a 
lasting  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  Arnolds,  father  and  son,  will  certainly  wel- 
come this  sympathetic  exposition  of  their  influence  and  opinions. 

"  The  book  is  opportune,  for  the  Amoldian  tradition,  though  widely  ditfose' 
in  America,  is  not  well  based  on  accurate  knowledge  and  is  pretty  muchiA 
the  air.  Dr.  Fitch  seems  the  fittest  person  by  reason  of  his  spiritual  sympathy 
with  the  father  and  his  personal  association  with  the  son,  to  sketch  in  this  brief 
way  the  two  most  typical  modem  English  educators.  And  he  has  done  his  work 
almost  ideally  well  within  his  limitations  of  purpose.  .  .  .  The  two  anas 
llffa  in  these  oases  as  thecvwere. '  '—Educational  Rtvina.  New  York. 


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